62  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

tenance  of  the  emperor  was  overclouded  for  a  moment. 
But  it  partially  cleared  up  again  as  he  said, — 

"  I  lay  not,  Demetrius,  the  least  constraint  upon  you. 
The  four  years  that  I  have  held  this  power  in  Borne  have 
been  years  of  freedom  to  my  people  in  this  respect. 
Whether  I  have  done  well  in  that  for  our  city  and  the 
empire,  many  would  doubt.  I  almost  doubt  myself.  " 

"  That  would  they,  by  Hercules !  "  said  the  soft  voice  of 
Varus,  just  at  my  ear,  and  intended  chiefly  for  me. 

"  My  brother, "  said  Demetrius,  "  will  be  happy  to  exe 
cute  for  the  emperor  the  work  which  he  has  been  pleased 
to  ask  of  me.  He  remains  steadfast  in  the  faith  in  which 
he  was  reared,  — the  popular  faith  of  Athens.  " 

"  Apollo, "  said  Demetrius  of  Palmyra,  "  is  my  especial 
favourite  among  all  the  gods,  and  of  him  I  have  wrought 
more  statues  in  silver,  gold,  or  ivory,  or  of  these  variously 
and  curiously  combined,  than  of  all  the  others.  If  I 
should  be  honoured  in  this  labour,  I  should  request  to 
adopt  the  marble  image  now  standing  in  the  baths  of 
Caracalla,  and  once,  it  is  said,  the  chief  wonder  of  Otho's 
palace  of  wonders,  as  a  model  after  which,  with  some  de 
viations,  to  mould  it.  I  think  I  could  make  that  that 
should  satisfy  Aurelian  and  Rome. " 

"  Do  it,  do  it !  "  said  the  emperor ;  "  and  let  it  be  seen 
that  the  worshipper  of  his  country's  gods  is  not  behind 
him  who  denies  them,  in  his  power  to  do  them  honour.  " 

"  I  shall  not  sleep, "  said  the  enthusiastic  artist,  "  till  I 
have  made  a  model  in  wax  at  least  of  what  at  this  moment 
presents  itself  to  my  imagination.  "  Saying  which,  with 
little  ceremony,  as  if  the  empire  depended  upon  his  reach 
ing  on  the  instant  his  chalk  and  wax,  and  to  the  infinite 
amusement  of  the  company,  he  rose  and  darted  from  the 
apartment,  the  slaves  making  way  as  for  a  missile  that  it 
might  be  dangerous  to  obstruct. 

"  But  in  what  way, "  said  Aurelian,  turning  to  the  elder 
Demetrius,  "  have  you  been  wrought  upon  to  abandon  the 
time-honoured  religion  of  Rome  ?  Methinks  the  whole 
world  is  becoming  of  this  persuasion.  " 


n  i  o  i  v  n  i    i 


1 [  J  V 


Hi?- 


AURELIAN 

A   TALE   OF  THE   ROMAN   EMPIRE 
IN  THE  THIRD  CENTURY 


AURE  LIAN 

iEmperor  of 


A    TALE    OF  THE    ROMAN    EMPIRE   IN 
THE  THIRD  CENTURY 


BY 

WILLIAM    WARE 

AUTHOR   OF   "ZENOBIA,"    "  JULIAN,"   ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


BOSTON 
ESTES     AND     LAURIAT 

PUBLISHERS 


2Ettitersits  Press: 
JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE,  U.S.A. 


CONTENTS. 


LETTEK  I. 

FROM   PISO    TO   FAUSTA. 

PAGE 
Piso's    PALACE    AT    ROME.  — THE    TWO   STATUES.  —  PORTIA 

AXD  HER  SON.  —  LlVIA  AS  EMPRESS. ROMAN  BlGOTRY.  — 

CHRISTIANITY  IN  ROME 


LETTEE  IT. 


FROM   PISO   TO   FAUSTA. 

FRONTO,  THE  CHIEF-PRIEST  OF  APOLLO. —  His  CONDUCT  TO 
HIS  SISTERS.  —  THE  FEARS  OF  PROBUS.  —  FELIX,  BISHOP  OF 
ROME.  —  MILO'S  WARNING.  —  THE  ROMAN  BOOKSELLER.  — 
VARUS.  —  MACER  AS  A  PREACHER.  —  THE  CHRISTIAN 
BOOKS 25 


LETTER  III. 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

CAUSES  OF  ROMAN  CORRUPTION.  —  THE  SPORTS  OF  THE  FLA 
VIAN. —AN  IMPERIAL  FEAST.— THE  DEMETRIL— THE 
HIGH-PRIEST  OF  APOLLO.  —  LIVIA.  —  THE  FIRST  CLOUD  IN 
THE  HORIZON 47 


314662 


vi  CONTENTS. 

LETTER  IV. 

FROM  PISO   TO    FAUSTA. 

PAGE 

THE  HUMAN  SACRIFICES.  —  THE  DEDICATION  OF  THE  TEMPLE. 
—  THE  STORM.  — THE  VOICE.  — THE  EVIL  AUGURIES  — 
AURELIAN'S  ANGER.  —  MACER.  —  SENSATION  IN  ROME.  — 
FRONTO'S  INFLUENCE 71 

LETTER  V. 

FROM   PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

THE  GLADIATORS.  —  VISIT  TO  MARCUS  AND  LUCILIA.  —  GAL- 
LUS.  —  A  GREAT  GRIEF.  —  AuRELIA.  —  NlCHOMACHUS  RE 
LATES  A  CONVERSATION 9-5 

LETTER  VI. 

FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

THE  ROMAN  PERFUMER.  —  SPURIUS.  —  MARCELLINUS.  —  ART 
IN  ANCIENT  ROME.  —  AURELIA  IMPRISONED.  —  THE  PIC 
TURE.  —  ISAAC'S  MISTAKE.  —  MARTYRDOM  OF  THE  PRIN 
CESS  AURELIA.  —  THE  JEW'S  FRIENDSHIP.  —  His  NEW 
HOPES.  —  JULIA'S  RESOLUTION .  .  .  137 

LETTER  VII. 

FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA. 

MACER.  —  THE  UNJUST  PREFECT.  —  MACER'S  PREACHING.  — 
LIVIA  IN  SORROW.  —  THE  WIFE  OF  MACER 183 

LETTER  VIII. 
FROM   PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

THE  HOME  IN  THE  RUINS.  —  MACER'S  CHILDREN.  —  JELIA, 
THE  DANCING  GIRL.  —  PISO  AND  AURELIAN  .  .  .207 


CONTENTS.  vii 

LETTEK  IX. 

FROM   PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

PAGE 

PKOBUS'S  OPINION  OF  THE  NEED  OF  PERSECUTION. — THE 
EDICTS.  —  HANNO'S  DOGS.  —  ASSEMBLING  OF  CHRISTIANS 
IN  COUNCIL.  —  FELIX  AND  PROBUS.  —  PROBUS  CHOSEN  AS 
SPOKESMAN  FOR  THE  CHRISTIANS.  —  INSTRUMENTS  OF  TOR 
TURE.  MACER  PULLS  DOWN  THE  EDICT.  —  THE  JUDGMENT 
HALL.  —  THE  TEST.  —  THE  RACK.  —  THE  MARTYRDOM.  — 
MACER'S  FAMILY.  —  ILIA'S  FATE.  —  THE  BLOODHOUNDS  .  239 

LETTEE  X. 

FROM   PISO   TO    FAUSTA. 

CURIO'S  NEWS.  —  FRONTO  SLANDERS  THE  CHRISTIANS.  —  AURE- 
LIAN  GIVES  AUDIENCE  TO  THE  CHRISTIANS.  —  PROBUS  DE 
FENDS  THEM.  —  PORPHYRUS.  —  THE  COUNSEL  OF  GOD.  — 
STORY  OF  THE  CROSS.  —  AURELIAN  CLOSES  THE  AUDIENCE. 
—  EFFECT  OF  PROBUS'S  SPEECH  ON  THE  PATRICIANS. — 
LIVIA'S  INTERCESSION.  —  AURELIAN'S  EVIL  GENIUS  311 


LETTER  XL 

FROM  PISO    TO    FAUSTA. 

PROBUS  IMPRISONED.  —  THE  LIONS  AND  THE  CAPTIVES.  — 
VARUS  TEMPTS  PROBUS.  —  CHRISTIAN  RESOLUTION.  — 
ISAAC'S  SYMPATHY.  —  THE  CHRISTIAN  TO  THE  LIONS.  — 
THE  VIVARIA  OPENED.  —  PISO  AND  JULIA  IMPRISONED.  — 
JULIA'S  DANGER  FROM  FRONTO.  —  PISO  REFUSES  TO 
ESCAPE.  —  JULIA  ON  THE  RACK.  — SAVED.  —  TACITUS 
EMPEROR.  —  AURELIAN'S  SECRETARY. — THE  TRAITOR.— 
AURELIAN  SLAIN.  —  CONCLUSION 359 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 
PORTRAIT  OF  AURELIAN  FROM  BUST  OF  THE  VATICAN  .      Frontispiece 

THE  PANTHEON 5 

THE  MOSES  OF  MICHAEL  ANGELO 9 

THE  ARCH  OF  TITUS 27 

BATHS  OF  TITUS 47 

INTERIOR  OF  THE  BATHS  OF  CARACALLA 62 

TEMPLE  OF  THE  SUN 76 

THE  TIBER  AND  THE  CASTLE  OF  ST.  ANGELO 95 

TEMPLE  OF  MARS 147 

THE  ROMAN  FORUM 152 

STATUE  OF  TRAJAN 168 

THE  FORUM,  GENERAL  VIEW 187 

TEMPLE  OF  JUPITER 195 

A  DANCING  GIRL 220 

THE  COLUMN  OF  TRAJAN 235 

THE  FORUM  AND  THE  ARCH  OF  TITUS 284 

PALACE  OF  THE  C^SARS,  PALATINE  HILL 323 

RUINS  ON  THE  PALATINE  HILL 330 

THE  AMPHITHEATRE 356 

CHRISTIANS  SACRIFICED  IN  THE  AMPHITHEATRE.    .    ,                   .  362 


AURELIAN 

EMPEROR    OF    EOME. 


THE  record  which  follows  is  by  the  hand  of  me, 
NICHOMACHUS,  once  the  happy  servant  of  the  great 
Queen  of  Palmyra,  than  whom  the  world  never  saw  a  queen 
more  illustrious,  nor  a  woman  adorned  with  brighter  vir 
tues.  But  my  design  is  not  to  write  her  eulogy,  nor  recite 
the  wonderful  story  of  her  life.  That  task  requires  a 
stronger  and  a  more  impartial  hand  than  mine.  The  life 
of  Zenobia  by  Nichomachus  would  be  the  portrait  of  a 
mother  and  a  divinity,  drawn  by  the  pen  of  a  child  and 
a  worshipper. 

My  object  is  an  humbler,  but  perhaps  also  a  more  useful 
one.  It  is  to  collect  and  arrange,  in  their  proper  order, 
such  of  the  letters  of  the  most  noble  Lucius  MANLIUS  Piso 
as  shall  throw  most  light  upon  his  character  and  times, 
supplying  all  defects  of  incident,  and  filling  up  all  chasms 
that  may  occur,  out  of  the  knowledge  which,  more  exactly 
than  any  one  else,  I  have  been  able  to  gather  concerning  all 
that  relates  to  the  distinguished  family  of  the  Pisos,  after 
its  connection  with  the  more  distinguished  one  still  of  the 
Queen  of  Palmyra. 

It  is  in  this  manner  that  I  propose  to  amuse  the  few  re 
maining  days  of  a  green  old  age,  not  without  hope  both  to 
amuse  and  benefit  others  also.  This  is  a  labour,  as  those 
will  discover  who  read,  not  unsuitable  to  one  who  stands 

1 


AUEELIAN 

EMPEKOR    OF    ROME. 


THE  record  which  follows  is  by  the  hand  of  me, 
NICHOMACHUS,  once  the  happy  servant  of  the  great 
Queen  of  Palmyra,  than  whom  the  world  never  saw  a  queen 
more  illustrious,  nor  a  woman  adorned  with  brighter  vir 
tues.  But  my  design  is  not  to  write  her  eulogy,  nor  recite 
the  wonderful  story  of  her  life.  That  task  requires  a 
stronger  and  a  more  impartial  hand  than  mine.  The  life 
of  Zenobia  by  Nichomachus  would  be  the  portrait  of  a 
mother  and  a  divinity,  drawn  by  the  pen  of  a  child  and 
a  worshipper. 

My  object  is  an  humbler,  but  perhaps  also  a  more  useful 
one.  It  is  to  collect  and  arrange,  in  their  proper  order, 
such  of  the  letters  of  the  most  noble  Lucius  MANLIUS  Piso 
as  shall  throw  most  light  upon  his  character  and  times, 
supplying  all  defects  of  incident,  and  filling  up  all  chasms 
that  may  occur,  out  of  the  knowledge  which,  more  exactly 
than  any  one  else,  I  have  been  able  to  gather  concerning  all 
that  relates  to  the  distinguished  family  of  the  Pisos,  after 
its  connection  with  the  more  distinguished  one  still  of  the 
Queen  of  Palmyra. 

It  is  in  this  manner  that  I  propose  to  amuse  the  few  re 
maining  days  of  a  green  old  age,  not  without  hope  both  to 
amuse  and  benefit  others  also.  This  is  a  labour,  as  those 
will  discover  who  read,  not  unsuitable  to  one  who  stands 

1 


2  t    t  ,    4    ti    t         t LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

trembling  on  thV  'verge  of  life,  and  whom  a  single  rude 
blast  may  in  a  moment  consign  to  the  embraces  of  the  uni 
versal  mother.  I  will  not  deny  that  my  chief  satisfaction 
springs  from  the  fact  that  in  collecting  these  letters,  and 
binding  them  together  by  a  connecting  narrative,  I  am 
engaged  in  the  honourable  task  of  tracing  out  some  of  the 
steps  by  which  the  new  religion  has  risen  to  its  present 
height  of  power.  For  whether  true  or  false,  neither  friend 
nor  foe,  neither  philosopher  nor  fool,  can  refuse  to  admit 
the  regenerating  and  genial  influences  of  its  so  wide  recep 
tion  upon  the  Eoman  character  and  manners.  If  not  the 
gift  of  the  gods,  it  is  every  way  worthy  a  divine  origin ; 
and  I  cannot  but  feel  myself  to  be  worthily  occupied  in 
recording  the  deeds,  the  virtues,  and  the  sufferings,  of 
those  who  put  their  faith  in  it,  and  in  times  of  danger 
and  oppression  stood  forth  to  defend  it.  Age  is  slow  of 
belief.  The  thoughts  then  cling  with  a  violent  pertinacity 
to  the  fictions  of  its  youth,  once  held  to  be  the  most 
sacred  realities.  But  for  this  I  should,  I  believe,  myself 
long  ago  have  been  a  Christian.  I  daily  pray  to  the  Su 
preme  Power  that  my  stubborn  nature  may  yet  so  far  yield 
that  I  may  be  able,  with  a  free  and  full  assent,  to  call 
myself  a  follower  of  Christ.  A  Greek  by  birth,  a  Palmy  - 
rene  by  choice  and  adoption,  a  Roman  by  necessity,  —  arid 
these  are  all  honourable  names, —  I  would  yet  rather  be  a 
Christian  than  either.  Strange  that,  with  so  strong  desires 
after  a  greater  good,  I  should  remain  fixed  where  I  have  ever 
been !  Stranger  still,  seeing  I  have  moved  so  long  in  the 
same  sphere  with  the  excellent  Piso,  the  divine  Julia  — 
that  emanation  of  God  —  and  the  godlike  Probus !  But 
there  is  no  riddle  so  hard  for  man  to  read  as  himself.  I 
sometimes  feel  most  inclined  toward  the  dark  fatalism  of 
the  Stoics,  since  it  places  all  things  beyond  the  region  of 
conjecture  or  doubt. 

Yet  if  I  may  not  be  a  Christian  myself  —  I  do  not,  how 
ever,  cease  both  to  hope  and  pray  —  I  am  happy  in  this, 
that  I  am  permitted  by  the  Divine  providence  to  behold, 
in  these  the  last  days  of  life,  the  quiet  supremacy  of  a 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

faith  which  has  already  added  so  much  to  the  common 
happiness,  and  promises  so  much  more.  Having  stood 
in  the  midst,  and  looked  upon  the  horrors  of  two  persecu 
tions  of  the  Christians, —  the  first  by  Aurelian  and  the  last 
by  Diocletian,  —  and  which  last  seemed  at  one  moment  as 
if  it  would  accomplish  its  work,  and  blot  out  the  very  name 
of  Christian,  —  I  have  no  language  in  which  to  express  the 
satisfaction  with  which  I  sit  down  beneath  the  peaceful 
shadows  of  a  Christian  throne,  and  behold  the  general 
security  and  exulting  freedom  enjoyed  by  the  many  mil 
lions  throughout  the  vast  empire  of  the  great  Constantine. 
Now,  everywhere  around,  the  Christians  are  seen,  un 
deterred  by  any  apprehension  of  violence,  with  busy  hands 
re-erecting  the  demolished  temples  of  their  pure  and 
spiritual  faith;  yet  not  unmindful,  in  the  meantime,  of 
the  labour  yet  to  be  done, —  to  draw  away  the  remaining 
multitudes  of  idolaters  from  the  superstitions  which,  while 
they  infatuate,  degrade  and  brutalize  them.  With  the  zeal 
of  the  early  apostles  of  this  religion,  they  are  applying 
themselves,  with  untiring  diligence,  to  soften  and  subdue 
the  stony  heart  of  hoary  Paganism,  receiving  but  too  often, 
as  their  only  return,  curses  and  threats,  —  now  happily  vain, 
—  but  often  again  retiring  from  the  assault,  leading  in 
glad  triumph  captive  multitudes.  Often,  as  I  sit  at  my 
window  overlooking  from  the  southern  slope  of  the 
Quirinal  the  magnificent  Temple  of  the  Sun,  the  proudest 
monument  of  Aurelian 's  reign,  do  I  pause  to  observe  the 
labours  of  the  artificers  who,  just,  as  it  were,  beneath  the 
shadow  of  its  columns,  are  placing  the  last  stones  upon 
the  dome  of  a  Christian  church.  Into  that  church  the 
worshippers  shall  enter  unmolested;  mingling  peacefully, 
as  they  go  and  return,  with  the  crowds  that  throng  the 
more  gorgeous  temple  of  the  idolaters.  Side  by  side,  un 
disturbed  and  free,  do  the  Pagans  and  Christians,  Greeks, 
Jews,  and  Egyptians,  now  observe  the  rites  and  offer  the 
worship  of  their  varying  faiths.  This  happiness  we  owe  to 
the  wise  and  merciful  laws  of  the  great  Constantine.  So 
was  it,  long  since,  in  Palmyra,  under  the  benevolent 


4  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

rule  of  Zenobia.  May  the  time  never  come  when  Chris 
tians  shall  do  otherwise  than  now, —  when,  remembering 
the  wrongs  they  have  received,  they  shall  retaliate  tor 
ture  and  death  upon  the  blind  adherents  of  the  ancient 
superstitions ! 

These  letters  of  Piso  to  Fausta,  the  daughter  of  Gracchus, 
now  follow. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA. 


LETTEE  I. 

FEOM   PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

Piso's  PALACE  AT  ROME.  —  THE  TWO  STATUES.  —  PORTIA  AND 
HER  SON.  —  LIVIA  AS  EMPRESS.  —  ROMAN  BIGOTRY.  —  CHRIS 
TIANITY  IN  ROME. 

I  AM  not  surprised,  Fausta,  that  you  complain  of  my 
silence ;  it  were  strange,  indeed,  if  you  did  not.  But 
as  for  most  of  our  misdeeds  we  have  excuses  ready  at 
hand,  so  have  I  for  this.  First  of  all,  I  was  not  ignorant 
that,  however  I  might  fail  you,  from  your  other  greater 
friend  you  would  experience  no  such  neglect ;  but  on  the 
contrary  would  be  supplied  with  sufficient  fulness  and 
regularity,  with  all  that  could  be  worth  knowing,  concern 
ing  either  our  public  or  private  affairs.  For  her  sake,  too, 
I  was  not  unwilling  that  at  first  the  burden  of  this  corre 
spondence,  if  I  may  so  term  it,  should  rest  where  it  has, 
since  it  has  afforded,  I  am  persuaded,  a  pleasure  and  pro 
vided  an  occupation  that  could  have  been  found  nowhere 
else.  Just  as  a  flood  of  tears  brings  relief  to  a  bosom  labour 
ing  under  a  heavy  sorrow,  so  has  this  pouring  out  of  her 
self  to  you,  in  frequent  letters,  served  to  withdraw  her 
mind  from  recollections  which,  dwelt  upon  as  they  were 
at  first,  would  soon  have  ended  that  life  in  which  all  ours 
seem  bound  up. 

Then,  again,  if  you  accept  the  validity  of  this  excuse,  I 
have  another,  which,  as  a  woman,  you  will  at  once  allow 
the  force  of.  You  will  not  deem  it  a  better  one  than  the 
other,  but  doubtless  as  good.  It  is  this :  that  for  a  long 
time  I  have  been  engaged  in  taking  possession  of  my  new 
dwelling  upon  the  Coelian,  not  far  from  that  of  Portia.  Of 
this  you  may  have  heard,  in  the  letters  which  have  reached 


6  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

you ;  but  that  will  not  prevent  me  from  describing  to  you, 
with  more  exactness  than  any  other  can  have  done  it,  the 
home  of  your  old  and  fast  friend,  Lucius  Maiilius  Piso ;  for 
I  think  it  adds  greatly  to  the  pleasure  with  which  we  think 
of  an  absent  friend,  to  be  able  to  see,  as  in  a  picture,  the 
form  and  material  and  position  of  the  house  he  inhabits, 
and  even  the  very  aspect  and  furniture  of  the  room  in  which 
he  is  accustomed  to  pass  the  most  of  his  time.  This  to  me 
is  a  satisfaction  greater  than  you  can  well  conceive,  when, 
in  my  ruminating  hours,  which  are  many,  I  return  to 
Palmyra,  and  place  myself  in  the  circle  with  Gracchus, 
Calpurnius,  and  yourself.  Your  palace  having  now  been 
restored  to  its  former  condition,  I  know  where  to  find  you 
at  the  morning,  noon,  and  evening  hour ;  the  only  change 
you  have  made  in  the  former  arrangements  being  this,  — 
that  whereas  when  I  was  your  guest,  your  private  apart 
ments  occupied  the  eastern  wing  of  the  palace,  they  are 
now  in  the  western,  once  mine,  and  which  I  used  then  to 
maintain  were  the  most  agreeable  and  noble  of  all.  The 
prospects  which  its  windows  afford  of  the  temple,  and  the 
distant  palace  of  the  queen,  and  of  the  evening  glories  of 
the  setting  sun,  are  more  than  enough  to  establish  its 
claims  to  an  undoubted  superiority ;  and  if  to  these  be 
added  the  circumstance  that  for  so  long  a  time  the  Eoman 
Piso  was  their  occupant,  the  case  is  made  out  beyond  all 
peradventure. 

But  I  am  describing  your  palace  rather  than  my  own. 
You  must  remember  my  paternal  seat  on  the  southern  de 
clivity  of  the  hill,  and  overlooking  the  course  of  the  Tiber, 
as  it  winds  away  to  the  sea.  Mine  is  not  far  from  it,  but 
on  the  northern  side  of  the  hill,  and  thereby  possessing  a 
situation  more  favourable  to  comfort  during  the  heats  of 
summer ;  I  loving  the  city,  as  you  well  know,  better  if  any 
thing  during  the  summer  than  the  winter  months.  Stand 
ing  upon  almost  the  highest  point  of  the  hill,  it  commands 
a  wide  and  beautiful  prospect,  especially  towards  the  north 
and  east,  the  eye  shooting  over  the  whole  expanse  of  city 
and  suburbs,  and  then  resting  upon  the  purple  outline  of 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  7 

the  distant  mountains.  Directly  before  me  are  the  magni 
ficent  structures  which  crown  the  Esquiline,  conspicuous 
among  which,  and  indeed  eminent  over  all,  are  the  Baths 
of  Titus.  Then,  as  you  will  conjecture,  the  eye  takes  in 
the  Palatine  and  Capitol  hills,  catching,  just  beyond  the 
last,  the  swelling  dome  of  the  Pantheon,  which  seems  rather 
to  rise  out  of  and  crown  the  Flavian  Amphitheatre  than  its 
own  massy  walls.  Then,  far  in  the  horizon  we  just  dis 
cern  the  distant  summits  of  the  Apennines,  broken  by 
Soracte  and  the  nearer  hills. 

The  principal  apartments  are  on  the  northern  side  of 
the  palace,  opening  upon  a  portico  of  Corinthian  columns 
running  its  entire  length,  and  which  would  not  disgrace 
Palmyra  itself.  At  the  eastern  extremity  are  the  rooms 
common  to  the  family ;  in  the  centre  a  spacious  hall,  in 
the  adorning  of  which,  by  every  form  of  art,  I  have  ex 
hausted  my  knowledge  and  taste  in  such  things ;  and  at 
the  western  extremity  my  library,  where  at  this  moment 
I  sit,  and  where  I  have  gathered  around  me  all  in  letters 
and  art  that  I  most  esteem.  This  room  I  have  decorated 
for  myself  and  Julia, — not  for  others.  Whatever  has  most 
endeared  itself  to  our  imaginations,  our  minds,  or  our 
hearts,  has  here  its  home.  The  books  that  have  most  in 
structed  or  amused ;  the  statuary  that  most  raises  and  de 
lights  us ;  the  pictures  on  which  we  most  love  to  dwell ; 
the  antiquities  that  possess  most  curiosity  or  value,  are 
here  arranged ;  and  in  an  order  that  would  satisfy,  I  be 
lieve,  even  your  fastidious  taste. 

I  will  not  weary  you  with  any  more  minute  account  of 
my  new  dwelling,  leaving  that  duty  to  the  readier  pen  of 
Julia.  Yet  I  cannot  relieve  you  till  I  have  spoken  of  two 
of  the  statues  which  occupy  the  most  conspicuous  niche  in 
the  library.  You  will  expect  me  to  name  Socrates  and 
Plato,  or  Numa  and  Seneca;  these  are  all  there,  but  it  is 
not  of  either  of  them  that  I  would  speak.  They  are  the 
founders  of  the  Jewish  and  Christian  religions, —  MOSES 
and  CHRIST.  These  statues,  of  the  purest  marble,  stand 
side  by  side,  at  one  extremity  of  the  apartment ;  and  im- 


8  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

mediately  before  them,  and  within  the  wondrous  sphere  of 
their  influences,  stands  the  table  at  which  I  write,  and 
where  I  pursue  my  inquiries  in  philosophy  and  religion. 
You  smile  at  my  enthusiasm,  Fausta,  and  wonder  when  I 
shall  return  to  the  calm  sobriety  of  my  ancient  faith.  In 
this  wonder  there  are  a  thousand  errors  —  but  of  these  here 
after.  I  was  to  tell  you  of  these  sculptures.  Of  the  statue 
of  Moses  I  possess  no  historical  account,  and  know  not  what 
its  claim  may  be  to  truth.  I  can  only  say  it  is  a  figure 
truly  grand,  and  almost  terrific.  It  is  of  a  size  larger  than 
life,  and  expresses  no  sentiment  so  perfectly  as  authority, — 
the  authority  of  a  rigorous  and  austere  ruler,  —  both  in  the 
attitude  of  the  body  and  the  features  of  the  countenance. 
The  head  is  slightly  raised  and  drawn  back,  as  if  listening, 
awe-struck,  to  a  communication  from  the  God  who  com 
missioned  him,  while  his  left  hand  supports  a  volume,  and 
his  right  grasps  a  stylus,  with  which,  when  the  voice  has 
ceased,  to  record  the  communicated  truth.  Place  in  his 
hands  the  thunderbolt,  and  at  his  feet  the  eagle,  and  the 
same  form  would  serve  for  Jupiter  the  Thunderer,  except 
only  that  to  the  countenance  of  the  Jewish  prophet  there 
has  been  imparted  a  rapt  and  inspired  look,  wholly  beyond 
any  that  even  Phidias  could  have  fixed  upon  the  face  of 
Jove.  He  who  wrought  this  head  must  have  believed  in 
the  sublimities  of  the  religion  whose  chief  minister  he  has 
made  so  to  speak  them  forth,  in  the  countenance  and  in  the 
form ;  and  yet  who  has  ever  heard  of  a  Jewish  sculptor  ? 

The  statue  of  Christ  is  of  a  very  different  character, —  as 
different  as  the  Christian  faith  is  from  that  of  the  Jewish, 
notwithstanding  they  are  still  by  many  confounded.  I 
cannot  pretend  to  describe  to  you  the  holy  beauty  that,  as 
it  were,  constitutes  this  perfect  work  of  art.  If  you  ask 
what  authority  tradition  has  invested  it  with,  I  can  only 
say  that  I  do  not  know.  All  I  can  affirm  with  certainty 
is  this,  that  it  once  stood  in  the  palace  of  Alexander  Se- 
verus,  in  company  with  the  images  of  other  deified  men  and 
gods,  whom  he  chiefly  reverenced.  When  that  excellent 
prince  had  fallen  under  the  blows  of  assassins,  his  succes- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  9 

sor  and  murderer,  Maximin,.  having  little  knowledge  or 
taste  for  what  was  found  in  the  palace  of  Alexander,  those 
treasures  were  sold  and  the  statue  of  Christ  came  into  the 
hands  of  a  distinguished  and  wealthy  Christian  of  that  day, 
who  perishing  in  the  persecution  of  Decius,  his  descend 
ants  became  impoverished,  and  were  compelled  to  part  with 
even  this  sacred  relic  of  their  former  greatness.  From 
them  I  purchased  it;  and  often  are  they  to  be  seen,  when 
ever  for  such  an  object  they  can  steal  away  from  necessary 
cares,  standing  before  it  and  renewing,  as  it  would  seem, 
their  vows  of  obedience,  in  the  presence  of  the  founder  of 
their  faith.  The  room  is  free  to  their  approach,  whenever 
they  are  thus  impelled. 

The  expression  of  this  statue,  I  have  said,  is  wholly  dif 
ferent  from  that  of  the  Hebrew.  His  is  one  of  authority 
and  of  sternness ;  this,  of  gentleness  and  love.  Christ  is 
represented,  like  the  Moses,  in  a  sitting  posture,  with  a 
countenance,  not  like  his  raised  to  heaven,  but  bent  with 
looks  somewhat  sad  and  yet  full  of  benevolence,  as  if  upon 
persons  standing  before  him.  Fraternity,  I  think,  is  the 
idea  you  associate  with  it  most  readily.  I  should  never 
suppose  him  to  be  a  judge  nor  censor,  nor  arbitrary  master, 
but  rather  an  elder  brother, —  elder  in  the  sense  of  wiser, 
holier,  purer ;  whose  look  is  not  one  of  reproach  that  others 
are  not  as  himself,  but  of  pity  and  desire ;  and  whose  hand 
would  rather  be  stretched  forth  to  lift  up  the  fallen  than  to 
smite  the  offender.  To  complete  this  expression,  and  in 
spire  the  beholder  with  perfect  confidence,  the  left  hand 
rests  upon  a  little  child,  who  stands  with  familiar  rever 
ence  at  his  knee,  and  looking  up  into  his  face,  seems  to 
say,  "  No  evil  can  come  to  me  here. " 

Opposite  this,  and  at  the  other  extremity  of  the  apart 
ment,  hangs  a  picture  of  Christ,  representing  him  in  very 
exact  accordance  with  the  traditional  accounts  of  his  feat 
ures  and  form,  a  description  of  which  exists,  and  is  held 
by  many  to  be  authentic,  in  a  letter  of  Publius  Lentulus,  a 
Roman  of  the  same  period.  Between  this  and  the  statue 
there  is  a  close  resemblance,  or  as  close  as  we  usually  see 


10  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

between  two  heads  of  Caesar  or  of  Cicero.  Marble,  how 
ever,  is  the  only  material  that  suits  the  character  and 
office  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Colour  and  its  minute  effects 
seem  in  some  sort  to  degrade  the  subject.  I  retained  the 
picture  because  of  its  supposed  truth. 

Portia,  as  you  will  believe,  is  full  of  wonder  and  sorrow 
at  these  things.  Soon  after  my  library  had  received  its 
last  additions,  my  mother  came  to  see  what  she  had  already 
heard  of  so  much.  As  she  entered  the  apartment  I  was 
sitting  in  my  accustomed  seat,  with  Julia  at  my  side,  and 
both  of  us  gazing  in  admiration  at  the  figures  I  have  just 
described.  We  were  both  too  much  engrossed  to  notice  the 
entrance  of  Portia ;  our  first  warning  of  her  presence  being 
her  hand  laid  upon  my  head.  We  rose  and  placed  her 
between  us. 

"  My  son, "  said  she,  looking  intently  as  she  spoke  upon 
the  statues  before  us,  "  what  strange-looking  figures  are 
these  ?  That  upon  my  left  might  serve  for  Jupiter  but  for 
the  roll  and  the  stylus.  And  why  place  you  beings  of 
character  so  opposite  as  these  appear  to  have  been  side 
by  side  ?  This  other  upon  my  right  —  ah,  how  beautiful 
it  is !  What  mildness  in  those  eyes,  and  what  a  divine 
repose  over  the  form,  which  no  event,  not  the  downfall  of 
a  kingdom  or  its  loss,  would  seem  capable  to  disturb.  Is 
it  the  peace-loving  Numa?" 

"  Not  so, "  said  Julia ;  "  there  stands  Numa,  leaning  on 
the  sacred  shield,  from  the  centre  of  which  beams  the  coun 
tenance  of  the  divine  Egeria.  " 

"  Yes,  I  see  it, "  replied  Portia ;  and  rising  from  her  seat 
she  stood  gazing  round  the  apartment,  examining  its  vari 
ous  appointments.  When  her  eye  had  sought  out  the  sev 
eral  objects,  and  dwelt  upon  them  a  moment,  she  said,  in 
tones  somewhat  reproachful,  as  much  so  as  it  is  in  her 
nature  to  assume  :  — 

"  Where,  Lucius,  are  the  gods  of  Eome  ?  Do  those  who 
have,  through  so  many  ages,  watched  over  our  country  and 
guarded  our  house  deserve  no  honour  at  your  hands  ?  Does 
not  gratitude  require  at  least  that  their  images  should  be 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  11 

here,  so  that,  whether  you  yourself  worship  them  or  not, 
their  presence  may  inspire  others  with  reverence  ?  But 
alas  for  the  times !  Piety  seems  dead ;  or,  with  the  faith 
that  inspires  it,  it  lives  but  in  a  few,  who  will  soon  dis 
appear,  and  religion  with  them.  Whose  forms  are  these, 
Lucius  ?  Concerning  one,  I  can  now  easily  surmise ;  but 
the  other,  this  stern  and  terrific  man, —  who  is  he?" 

"  That, "  I  replied,  "  is  Moses,  the  founder  of  Judaism. " 

"  Immortal  gods ! "  exclaimed  Portia,  "  the  statue  of  a 
Jew  in  the  halls  of  the  Pisos !  Well  may  it  be  that  Eome 
approaches  her  decline,  when  her  elder  sons  turn  against 
her!" 

"  Nay,  mother,  I  am  not  a  Jew.  * 

"  I  would  thou  wert,  rather  than  be  what  I  suppose  thou 
art,  a  Christian.  The  Jew,  Lucius,  can  boast  of  antiquity, 
at  least,  in  behalf  of  his  religion.  But  the  faith  which 
you  would  profess  and  extend  is  but  of  yesterday.  Would 
the  gods  ever  leave  mankind  without  religion  ?  Is  it  only 
to-day  that  they  reveal  the  truth  ?  Have  they  left  us  for 
these  many  ages  to  grope  along  in  error  ?  Never,  Lucius, 
can  I  believe  it.  It  is  enough  for  me  that  the  religion  of 
Rome  is  old  as  Eome,  to  endear  it  to  my  heart,  and  com 
mend  it  to  my  understanding.  It  is  not  for  the  first  time, 
to-day,  that  the  gods  have  spoken.  " 

"  But,  my  dear  mother, "  I  rejoined,  "  if  age  makes  truth, 
there  are  older  religions  than  this  of  Rome.  Judaism  itself 
is  older  by  many  centuries.  But  it  is  not  because  a  reli 
gion  is  new  or  old,  that  I  would  receive  or  reject  it.  The 
only  question  is,  does  it  satisfy  my  heart  and  mind,  and  is 
it  true  ?  The  faith  which  you,  mother,  engrafted  upon  my 
infant  mind  fails  to  meet  the  wants  of  my  nature,  and  upon 
looking  for  its  foundations,  I  find  them  not.  " 

"  Is  thy  nature  different  from  mine,  Lucius  ?  Surely  thou 
art  my  own  child !  It  has  satisfied  me  and  my  nature.  I 
ask  for  nothing  else,  or  better.  " 

"  There  are  some  natures,  mother,  by  the  gods  so  fur 
nished  and  filled  with  all  good  desires  and  affections,  that 
their  religion  is  born  with  them  and  is  in  them.  It  mat- 


12  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

ters  little  under  what  outward  form  and  administration  of 
truth  they  dwell ;  no  system  could  injure  them,  none  would 
greatly  benefit.  They  are  of  the  family  of  God  by  birth, 
and  are  never  disinherited. " 

"  Yes,  Portia, "  said  Julia,  "  natural  and  divine  instincts 
make  you  what  others  can  become  only  through  the  power 
ful  operation  of  some  principle,  out  of  and  superior  to  any 
thing  they  find  within  themselves.  For  me,  I  know  not 
what  I  should  have  been  without  the  help  which  Chris 
tianity  has  afforded.  I  might  have  been  virtuous,  but  I 
could  not  have  been  happy.  You  surely  rejoice  when  the 
weak  find  that  in  any  religion  or  philosophy  which  gives 
them  strength.  Look,  Portia,  at  that  serene  and  benignant 
countenance,  and  can  you  believe  that  any  truth  ever  came 
from  its  lips  but  such  as  must  be  most  comforting  and  ex 
alting  to  those  who  receive  it?" 

"  It  would  seem  so,  indeed,  my  child, "  replied  Portia, 
musingly,  "  and  I  would  not  deprive  any  of  the  comforts 
or  strength  which  any  principle  may  impart.  But  I  can 
not  cease  to  think  it  dangerous  to  the  state,  when  the  faith 
of  the  founders  of  Eome  is  abandoned  by  those  who  fill  its 
highest  places.  You  who  abound  in  leisure  and  learning 
may  satisfy  yourselves  with  a  new  philosophy ;  but  what 
shall  these  nice  refinements  profit  the  common  herd  ?  How 
shall  they  see  them  to  be  true,  or  comprehend  them  ?  The 
Eomans  have  ever  been  a  religious  people;  and  although 
under  the  empire  the  purity  of  ancient  manners  is  lost,  let 
it  not  be  said  that  the  Pisos  were  among  those  who  struck 
the  last  and  hardest  blows  at  the  still  stout  root  of  the  tree 
that  bore  them. " 

"  Nothing  can  be  more  plain  or  intelligible, "  I  replied, 
"  than  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion ;  and  wher 
ever  it  has  been  preached  with  simplicity  and  power,  even 
the  common  people  have  readily  and  gratefully  adopted  it. 
I  certainly  cannot  but  desire  that  it  may  prevail.  If  any 
thing  is  to  do  it,  I  believe  this  is  the  power  that  is  to  re 
store,  and  in  a  still  nobler  form,  the  ancient  manners  of 
which  you  speak.  It  is  from  Christianity  that  in  my  heart 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  13 

I  believe  the  youthful  blood  is  to  come  that,  being  poured 
into  the  veins  of  this  dying  state,  shall  reproduce  the  very 
vigour  and  freshness  of  its  early  age.  Eome,  mother,  is  now 
but  a  lifeless  trunk,  a  dead  and  loathsome  corpse ;  a  new 
and  warmer  current  must  be  infused  or  it  will  soon  crumble 
into  dust. " 

"  I  grieve,  Lucius,  to  see  you  lost  to  the  good  cause  of 
your  country,  and  to  the  altars  of  her  gods ;  for  who  can 
love  his  country  and  deny  the  gods  who  made  and  preserve 
it  ?  But  then  whom  am  I  to  condemn  ?  When  I  see  the 
gods  hurl  thunderbolts  upon  those  who  flout  them,  it  will 
be  time  enough  for  us  mortals  to  assume  the  robes  of  judg 
ment,  I  will  hope  that  further  thought  will  reclaim  you 
from  your  truant  wanderings.  " 

Do  not  imagine,  Fausta,  that  conversations  like  this 
have  the  least  effect  to  chill  the  warm  affections  of  Portia 
towards  us  both.  Nature  has  placed  within  her  bosom  a 
central  heat  that  not  only  preserves  her  own  warmth,  but 
diffuses  itself  upon  all  who  approach  her,  and  changes  their 
affections  into  a  likeness  of  her  own.  We  speak  of  our 
differing  faiths,  but  love  none  the  less.  When  she  had 
paused  a  moment,  after  uttering  the  last  words,  she  again 
turned  her  eye  upon  the  statue  of  Christ,  and  captivated 
by  its  wondrous  power,  she  dwelt  upon  it  in  a  manner  that 
showed  her  sensibilities  to  be  greatly  moved.  At  length 
she  suddenly  started,  saying  — 

"  If  truth  and  beauty  were  the  same  thing,  one  need  but 
look  upon  this  and  be  a  believer.  But  as  in  the  human 
form  and  face  beauty  is  often  but  a  lie,  covering  over  a 
worse  deformity  than  any  that  ever  disfigures  the  body,  so 
it  may  be  here.  I  cannot  but  admire  and  love  the  beauty ; 
it  will  be  wise,  I  suppose,  not  to  look  farther,  lest  the 
dream  be  dissolved. " 

"  Be  not  afraid  of  that,  dearest  mother ;  I  can  warrant 
you  against  disappointment.  If  in  that  marble  you  have 
the  form  of  the  outward  beauty,  here,  in  this  roll,  you 
will  find  the  inward  moral  beauty  of  which  it  was  the 
shrine.  " 


14  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

"  Nay,  nay,  Lucius,  T  look  no  farther  or  deeper.  I  have 
seen  too  much  already.  " 

With  these  words  she  rose,  and  we  accompanied  her  to 
the  portico,  where  we  walked,  and  sat,  and  talked  of  you, 
and  Calpurnius,  and  Gracchus. 

Thus  you  perceive  I  have  told  you  first  of  what  chiefly 
interests  myself ;  now  let  me  turn  to  what  at  this  moment, 
more  than  everything  else,  fills  all  heads  in  Eome  —  and 
that  is  Livia.  She  is  the  object  of  universal  attention,  the 
centre  of  all  honour.  It  is  indescribable,  the  sensation 
which  her  beauty,  and  now  added  to  that,  her  magnifi 
cence,  have  made  and  still  make  in  Eome.  Her  imperial 
bearing  would  satisfy  even  you ;  and  the  splendour  of  her 
state  exceeds  all  that  has  been  known  before.  This  you 
may  be  surprised  to  hear,  knowing  what  the  principles  of 
Aurelian  have  been  in  such  things ;  how  strict  he  has  been 
himself  in  a  more  than  republican  simplicity,  and  how 
severe  upon  the  extravagances  and  luxuries  of  others  in 
the  laws  he  has  enacted.  You  must  remember  his  prohi 
bition  of  the  use  of  cloth  of  gold,  and  of  silk,  among  other 
things,  —  foolish  laws  to  be  suddenly  promulged  among  so 
vain  and  corrupt  a  population  as  this  of  Eome.  They  have 
been  the  ridicule  and  scorn  of  rich  and  poor  alike ;  of  the 
rich,  because  they  are  so  easily  violated  in  private,  or 
evaded  by  the  substitution  of  one  article  for  another;  of 
the  poor,  because,  being  slaves  in  spirit,  they  take  a  slave's 
pride  in  the  trappings  and  state  of  their  masters ;  they  love 
not  only  to  feel  but  to  see  their  superiority.  But  since  the 
Eastern  expedition,  the  reduction  of  Palmyra,  and  the  in 
troduction  from  abroad  of  the  vast  flood  of  foreign  luxuries 
which  has  inundated  Eome  and  Italy  itself,  the  principles 
and  the  habits  of  the  emperor  have  undergone  a  mighty 
revolution.  Now,  the  richness  and  costliness  of  his  dress, 
the  splendour  of  his  equipage,  the  gorgeousness  of  his  fur 
niture,  cannot  be  made  to  come  up  to  the  height  of  his  ex 
travagant  desires.  The  silk  which  he  once  denied  to  the 
former  empress  for  a  dress,  now,  variously  embroidered  and 
of  every  dye,  either  hangs  in  ample  folds  upon  the  walls, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  15 

or  canopies  the  royal  bed,  or  lends  its  beauty  to  the  cush 
ioned  seats  which  everywhere,  in  every  form  of  luxurious 
ease,  invite  to  repose.  Gold,  too,  once  prohibited,  but  now 
wrought  into  every  kind  of  cloth,  or  solid  in  shape  of  dish, 
or  vase,  or  cup,  or  spread  in  sheets  over  the  very  walls  and 
ceilings  of  the  palace,  has  rendered  the  traditions  of  Nero's 
house  of  gold  no  longer  fabulous.  The  customs  of  the  East 
ern  monarchs  have  also  elevated  or  perverted  the  ambition 
of  Aurelian,  and  one  after  another  is  taking  place  of  former 
usages.  He  is  every  day  more  difficult  of  access,  and  sur 
rounds  himself,  his  palaces,  and  apartments,  by  guards  and 
officers  of  state.  In  all  this,  as  you  will  readily  believe, 
Livia  is  his  willing  companion,  or  rather,  I  should  perhaps 
say,  his  prompting  and  ruling  genius.  As  without  the 
world  at  her  feet  it  would  be  impossible  for  her  insane 
pride  to  be  fully  satisfied,  so  in  all  that  is  now  done  the 
emperor  still  lags  behind  her  will.  But  beautifully,  it 
can  be  denied  by  none,  does  she  become  her  greatness,  and 
gives  more  lustre  than  she  receives  to  all  around  her. 
Gold  is  doubly  gold  in  her  presence;  and  even  the  dia 
mond  sparkles  with  a  new  brilliancy  on  her  brow  or 
sandal. 

Livia  is,  of  all  women  I  have  ever  seen  or  known,  made 
for  a  Eoman  empress.  I  used  to  think  so  when  in  Palmyra, 
and  I  saw  her,  so  often  as  I  did,  assuming  the  port  and  air 
of  imaginary  sovereignty.  And  now  that  I  behold  her  fill 
ing  the  very  place  for  which  by  nature  she  is  most  perfectly 
fitted,  I  cannot  but  confess  that  she  surpasses  all  I  had 
imagined  in  the  genius  she  displays  for  her  great  sphere, 
both  as  wife  of  Aurelian  and  sovereign  of  Eome.  Her  in 
tellect  shows  itself  stronger  than  I  had  believed  it  to  be, 
and  secures  for  her  the  homage  of  a  class  who  could  not  be 
subdued  by  the  magnificence  of  her  state,  extraordinary  as 
it  is.  They  are  captivated  by  the  brilliancy  of  her  wit, 
set  off  by  her  unequalled  beauty,  and,  for  a  woman,  her 
rare  attainments,  and  hover  around  her  as  some  superior 
being.  Then,  for  the  mass  of  our  rich  and  noble,  her 
ostentatious  state  and  imperial  bearing  are  all  that  they 


16  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

can  appreciate,  all  they  ask  for,  and  more  than  enough  to 
enslave  them,  not  only  to  her  reasonable  will,  but  to  all 
her  most  tyrannical  and  whimsical  caprices.  She  under 
stands  already  perfectly  the  people  she  is  among,  and 
through  her  quick  sagacity  has  already  risen  to  a  power 
greater  than  woman  ever  before  held  in  Borne. 

We  see  her  often,  —  often  as  ever ;  and  when  we  see  her, 
enjoy  her  as  well.  For  with  all  her  ambition  of  petty  rule 
and  imposing  state,  she  possesses  and  retains  a  goodness  of 
heart  that  endears  her  to  all,  in  spite  of  her  follies.  Julia 
is  still  her  beloved  Julia,  and  I  her  good  friend  Lucius; 
but  it  is  to  Zenobia  that  she  attaches  herself  most  closely ; 
and  from  her  she  draws  most  largely  of  the  kind  of  inspira 
tion  which  she  covets.  And  it  is  to  her,  I  believe,  that 
we  may  trace  much  of  the  admirable  wisdom  —  for  such  it 
must  be  allowed  to  be  —  with  which  Livia  adorns  the 
throne  of  the  world. 

Her  residence,  when  Aurelian  is  absent  from  the  city,  is 
near  us,  in  the  palace  upon  the  Palatine ;  but  when  he  is 
here,  it  is  more  remote,  in  the  enchanted  gardens  of  Sal- 
lust.  This  spot,  first  ennobled  by  the  presence  of  the  great 
historian  to  whose  hand  and  eye  of  taste  the  chief  beauties 
of  the  scene  are  to  be  traced,  then  afterwards  selected  by 
Vespasian  as  an  imperial  villa,  is  now  lately  become  the 
chosen  retreat  of  Aurelian.  It  has  indeed  lost  a  part  of  its 
charms  since  it  has  been  embraced  by  the  extension  of  the 
new  walls  within  the  limits  of  the  city ;  but  enough  remain 
to  justify  abundantly  the  preference  of  a  line  of  emperors. 
It  is  there  that  we  see  Livia  most  as  we  have  been  used  to 
do,  and  where  are  forcibly  brought  to  our  minds  the  hours 
passed  by  us  so  instructively  in  the  ga,rdens  of  Zenobia. 
Often  Aurelian  is  of  our  company,  and  throws  the  light  of 
his  strong  intellect  upon  whatever  subject  it  is  we  discuss. 
He  cannot,  however,  on  such  occasions,  thoroughly  tame  to 
the  tone  of  gentle  society  his  imperious  and  almost  rude 
nature.  The  peasant  of  Pannonia  will  sometimes  break 
through  and  usurp  the  place  of  emperor ;  but  it  is  only  for 
a  moment :  for  it  is  amusing  to  note  how  the  presence  of 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  17 

Livia  quickly  restores  him  to  himself;  when,  with  more 
grace  than  one  would  look  for,  he  acknowledges  his  fault, 
ascribing  it  sportively  to  the  fogs  of  the  German  marshes. 
It  amuses  us  to  observe  the  power  which  the  polished  man 
ners  and  courtly  ways  of  Livia  exercise  over  Aurelian, 
whose  ambition  seems  now  as  violently  bent  upon  subdu 
ing  the  world  by  the  displays  of  taste,  grace,  and  magnifi 
cence,  as  it  once  was  to  do  it  —  and  is  still  indeed  —  by 
force  of  arms.  Having  astonished  mankind  in  one  way, 
he  would  astonish  them  again  in  quite  another ;  and  to  this 
latter  task  his  whole  nature  is  consecrated  with  as  entire 
a  devotion  as  ever  it  was  to  the  other.  Livia  is  in  all  these 
things  his  model  and  guide ;  and  never  did  soldier  learn  to 
catch,  from  the  least  motion  or  sign  of  the  general,  his  will, 
than  does  he,  to  the  same  end,  study  the  countenance  and 
the  voice  of  the  empress.  Yet  is  there,  as  you  will  be 
lieve,  knowing  the  character  of  Aurelian  as  well  as  you  do, 
nothing  mean  or  servile  in  this.  He  is  ever  himself,  and 
beneath  this  transparent  surface,  artificially  assumed,  you 
behold,  feature  for  feature,  the  lineaments  of  the  fierce  sol 
dier  glaring  forth  in  all  their  native  wildness  and  ferocity. 
Yet  we  are  happy  that  there  exists  any  charm  potent  enough 
to  calm,  but  for  hours  or  days,  a  nature  so  stern  and  cruel 
as  to  cause  perpetual  fears  for  the  violences  in  which  at  any 
moment  it  may  break  out.  The  late  slaughter  in  the  very 
streets  of  Eome,  when  the  Coelian  ran  with  the  blood  of 
fifteen  thousand  Eomans,  butchered  within  sight  of  their 
own  homes,  with  the  succeeding  executions,  naturally  fill 
us  with  apprehensions  for  the  future.  We  call  him  gener 
ous  and  magnanimous,  and  so  he  is,  compared  with  former 
tyrants  who  have  polluted  the  throne,  —  Tiberius,  Commo- 
dus,  or  Maximin;  but  what  title  has  he  to  that  praise, 
when  tried  by  the  standard  which  our  own  reason  supplies 
of  those  great  virtues  ?  I  confess  it  was  not  always  so. 
His  severity  was  formerly  ever  on  the  side  of  justice ;  it 
was  indignation  at  crime  or  baseness  which  sometimes 
brought  upon  him  the  charge  of  cruelty  —  never  the  wan 
ton  infliction  of  suffering  and  death.  But  it  certainly  is 

2 


18  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

not  so  now.  A  slight  cause  now  rouses  his  sleeping  pas 
sions  to  a  sudden  fury,  often  fatal  to  the  first  object  that 
comes  in  his  way.  But  enough  of  this. 

Do  not  forget  to  tell  me  again  of  the  old  hermit  of  the 
mountains,  and  that  you  have  visited  him,  —  if  indeed  he 
be  yet  among  the  living. 

Even  with  your  lively  imagination,  Fausta,  you  can 
hardly  form  an  idea  of  the  sensation  which  my  open  as 
sertion  of  Christian  principles  and  assumption  of  the  Chris 
tian  name  has  made  in  Kome.  I  intended,  when  I  sat 
down,  to  speak  only  of  this ;  but  see  how  I  have  been  led 
away !  My  letters  will  be  for  the  most  part  confined,  I 
fear,  to  the  subjects  which  engross  both  myself  and  Julia 
most, —  such  as  relate  to  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the 
new  religion,  and  to  the  part  which  we  take  in  the  revolu 
tion  which  is  going  on.  Not  that  I  shall  be  speechless 
upon  other  and  inferior  topics,  but  that  upon  this  of 
Christianity  I  shall  be  garrulous  and  overflowing.  I  be 
lieve  that  in  doing  this  I  shall  consult  your  preferences  as 
well  as  my  own.  I  know  you  to  be  desirous  of  principles 
better  than  any  which  as  yet  you  have  been  able  to  dis 
cover,  and  that  you  will  gladly  learn  whatever  I  may  have 
it  in  my  power  to  teach  you  from  this  quarter.  But  all 
the  teaching  I  shall  attempt  will  be  to  narrate  events  as 
they  occur,  and  state  facts  as  they  arise,  and  leave  them  to 
make  what  impression  they  may. 

When  I  just  spoke  of  the  sensation  which  my  adoption  of 
the  Christian  system  had  caused  in  Kome,  I  did  not  mean  to 
convey  any  idea  like  this,  that  it  has  been  rare  for  the  intel 
ligent  and  cultivated  to  attach  themselves  to  this  despised 
religion.  On  the  contrary,  it  would  be  true  were  I  to  say 
that  they  who  accept  Christianity  are  distinguished  for  their 
intelligence ;  that,  estimated  as  a  class,  they  rank  far  above 
the  lowest.  It  is  not  the  dregs  of  a  people  who  become 
reformers  of  philosophy  or  religion,  who  grow  dissatisfied 
with  ancient  opinions  upon  exalted  subjects,  and  search 
about  for  better,  and  adopt  them.  The  processes  involved 
in  this  change  in  their  very  nature  require  intelligence,  and 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  19 

imply  a  character  of  more  than  common  elevation.  It  is 
neither  the  lowest  nor  the  highest  who  commence,  and  at 
first  carry  on,  a  work  like  this  ;  but  those  who  fill  the  inter 
mediate  spaces.  The  lowest  are  dead  as  brute  matter  to 
such  interests  ;  the  highest  —  the  rich,  the  fashionable,  the 
noble  —  from  opposite  causes  just  as  dead ;  or  if  they  are 
alive  at  all,  it  is  with  the  rage  of  denunciation  and  opposi 
tion.  They  are  supporters  of  the  decent  usages  sanctioned 
by  antiquity  and  consecrated  by  the  veneration  of  a  long 
line  of  the  great  and  noble.  Whether  they  themselves 
believe  in  the  system  which  they  uphold  or  not,  they  are 
equally  tenacious  of  it.  They  would  preserve  and  perpet 
uate  it,  because  it  has  satisfied,  at  any  rate  bound  and 
over-awed,  the  multitude  for  ages ;  and  the  experiment  of 
alteration  or  substitution  is  too  dangerous  to  be  tried. 
Most  indeed  reason  not,  nor  philosophize  at  all,  in  the  mat 
ter.  The  instinct  that  makes  them  Eomans  in  their  wor 
ship  of  the  power  and  greatness  of  Eome,  and  attachment  to 
her  civil  forms,  makes  them  Romans  in  their  religion,  and 
will  summon  them,  if  need  be,  to  die  for  the  one  and  the 
other. 

Religion  and  philosophy  have  accordingly  nothing  to  hope 
from  this  quarter.  It  is  those  whom  we  may  term  the  sub 
stantial  middle  classes,  who,  being  least  hindered  by  preju 
dices  and  pride  of  order,  on  the  one  hand,  and  incapacitated 
by  ignorance  on  the  other,  have  ever  been  the  earliest  and 
best  friends  of  progress  in  any  science.  Here  you  find  the 
retired  scholar,  the  thoughtful  and  independent  farmer,  the 
skilful  mechanic,  the  enlightened  merchant,  the  curious 
traveller,  the  inquisitive  philosopher,  all  fitted,  beyond  those 
of  either  extreme,  for  exercising  a  sound  judgment  upon 
such  questions,  and  all  more  interested  in  them.  It  is  out 
of  these  that  Christianity  has  made  its  converts.  They  are 
accordingly  worthy  of  universal  respect.  I  have  examined 
with  diligence,  and  can  say  that  there  live  not  in  Rome  a 
purer  and  more  noble  company  than  the  Christians.  When 
I  say,  however,  that  it  is  out  of  these  whom  I  have  just 
specified  that  Christianity  has  made  its  converts,  I  do  not 


20  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

mean  to  say  out  of  them  exclusively.  Some  have  joined 
them  in  the  present  age,  as  well  as  in  every  age  past,  from 
the  most  elevated  in  rank  and  power.  If  in  Nero's  palace, 
and  among  his  chief  ministers,  there  were  Christians,  if 
Domitilla,  Domitian's  niece,  was  a  Christian,  if  Philip  was  a 
Christian,  so  now  a  few  of  the  same  rank  may  be  counted 
who  openly,  and  more  who  secretly,  profess  this  religion. 
But  they  are  very  few.  So  that  you  will  not  wonder  that 
when  the  head  of  the  ancient  and  honourable  house  of  the 
Pis os,  the  friend  of  Aurelian,  and  allied  to  the  royal  family 
of  Palmyra,  declared  himself  to  be  of  this  persuasion,  no  little 
commotion  was  observable  in  Rome,  —  not  so  much  among 
the  Christians  themselves  as  among  the  patricians,  among 
the  nobility  in  the  court  and  palace  of  Aurelian.  The  love 
of  many  has  grown  cold,  and  the  outward  tokens  of  respect 
are  withheld.  Brows  darkened  by  the  malignant  passions 
of  the  bigot  are  bent  upon  me  as  I  pass  along  the  streets, 
and  inquiries  full  of  scornful  irony  are  made  after  the  wel 
fare  of  my  new  friends.  The  emperor  changes  not  his  car 
riage  towards  me,  nor,  I  believe,  his  feelings.  I  think  he  is 
too  tolerant  of  opinion,  too  much  a  man  of  the  world,  to  de 
sire  to  curb  and  restrain  the  liberty  of  his  friends  in  the 
quarter  of  philosophy  and  religion.  I  know,  indeed,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  he  is  religious  in  his  way,  to  the  extreme 
of  superstition ;  but  I  have  observed  no  tokens  as  yet  of 
any  purpose  or  wish  to  interfere  with  the  belief  or  worship 
of  others.  He  seems  like  one  who,  if  he  may  indulge  his 
own  feelings  in  his  own  way,  is  not  unwilling  to  concede  to 
others  the  same  freedom. 

As  I  was  writing  these  last  sentences  I  became  conscious 
of  a  voice  muttering  in  low  tones,  as  if  discoursing  with 
itself,  and  upon  no  very  agreeable  theme.  I  heeded  it  not 
at  first,  but  wrote  on.  At  length  it  ran  thus,  and  I  was 
compelled  to  give  ear :  — 

"  Patience,  patience,  —  greatest  of  virtues,  yet  hardest  of 
practise !  To  wait  indeed  for  a  kingdom  were  something, 
though  it  were  upon  a  bed  of  thorns ;  to  suffer  for  the  hon 
our  of  truth  were  more,  —  more  in  itself  and  more  in  its 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  21 

rewards.  But  patience  when  a  fly  stings,  or  a  fool  speaks, 
or  worse,  when  time  is  wasted  and  lost,  is — the  virtue  may 
hap  is  greater,  after  all;  but  it  is  harder,  I  say,  of  practice, 
that  is  what  I  say  —  yet,  for  that  very  reason,  greater  !  By 
Hercules !  I  believe  it  is  so.  So  that,  while  I  wait  here, 
my  virtue  of  patience  is  greater  than  that  of  these  accursed 
Jews.  Patience,  then,  I  say  —  patience  !  " 

"  What  in  the  name  of  all  antiquity,"  I  exclaimed,  turn 
ing  round  as  the  voice  ceased,  "  is  this  flood  of  philosophy 
for  ?  Wherein  have  I  offended  ? " 

"  Offended  ! "  cried  the  other.  "  Nay,  noble  master,  not 
offended.  According  to  my  conclusion,  I  owe  thee  thanks ; 
for  while  I  have  stood  waiting  to  catch  thy  eye  and  ear  my 
virtue  has  shot  up  like  a  wild  vine.  The  soul  has  grown. 
I  ought,  therefore,  rather  to  crave  forgiveness  of  thee,  for 
breaking  up  a  study  which  was  so  profound,  and  doubtless 
so  agreeable,  too." 

"  Agreeable  you  will  certainly  grant  it,  when  I  tell  you  I 
was  writing  to  your  ancient  friend  and  pupil,  the  daughter 
of  Gracchus." 

"  Ah,  the  blessings  of  all  the  gods  upon  her !  My  dreams 
are  still  of  her.  I  loved  her,  Piso,  as  I  never  loved  besides, 
either  form,  shadow,  or  substance.  I  used  to  think  that  I 
loved  her  as  a  parent  loves  his  child,  a  brother  his  sister ; 
but  it  was  more  than  that.  Aristotle  is  not  so  dear  to  me 
as  she.  Bear  witness  to  these  tears !  I  would  now,  bent  as 
I  am,  travel  the  Syrian  deserts  to  see  her,  especially  if  I 
might  hear  from  her  mouth  a  chapter  of  the  great  philoso 
pher.  Never  did  Greek,  always  music,  seem  so  like  some 
what  more  divinely  harmonious  than  anything  of  earth,  as 
when  it  came  through  her  lips.  Yet,  by  Hercules !  she 
played  me  many  a  mad  prank !  'T  would  have  been  better 
for  her,  and  for  letters,  had  I  chastised  her  more,  and  loved 
her  less.  Condescend,  noble  Piso,  to  name  me  to  her,  and 
entreat  her  not  to  fall  away  from  her  Greek.  That  will  be 
a  consolation  under  all  losses  and  all  sorrows." 

"  I  will  not  fail  to  do  so.  And  now,  in  what  is  my  opin 
ion  wanted  ? " 


22  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  It  is  simply  in  the  matter  of  these  volumes,  —  where 
thou  wilt  have  them  bestowed.  The  cases  here,  by  their 
superior  adorning,  seem  designed  for  the  great  master  of  all 
and  his  disciples ;  and  it  is  here  I  would  fain  order  them. 
Would  it  so  please  thee  ? " 

"  No,  Solon,  not  there.  That  is  designed  for  a  very  differ 
ent  Master  and  his  disciples." 

Solon  looked  at  me  as  if  unwilling  to  credit  his  ears,  hop 
ing  that  something  would  be  added  more  honourable  to  the 
affronted  philosopher  and  myself.  But  nothing  coming,  he 
said :  — 

"  I  penetrate,  I  apprehend.  This,  the  very  centre  and 
post  of  honour,  thou  reservest  for  the  atheistical  Jews. 
The  gods  help  us !  I  doubt  I  should  straight  resign  my 
office.  Well,  well ;  let  us  hope  that  the  increase  of  years 
will  bring  an  increase  of  wisdom.  We  cannot  look  for  fruit 
on  a  sapling.  Youth  seeks  novelty.  But,  the  gods  be 
thanked !  youth  lasts  not  long,  but  is  a  fault  daily  cor 
rected,  else  the  world  were  at  a  bad  pass.  Eome  is  not 
fallen,  nor  the  fame  of  the  Stagyrite  hurt  for  this.  But  't  is 
grievous  to  behold  !  " 

So  murmuring,  as  he  retreated  to  the  farther  part  of  the 
library,  with  his  bundle  of  rolls  under  his  arm,  he  again 
busied  himself  in  the  labours  of  his  office. 

I  see,  Fausta,  the  delight  that  sparkles  in  your  eye,  and 
breaks  over  your  countenance,  as  you  learn  that  Solon,  the 
incomparable  Solon,  is  one  of  my  household.  No  one  whom 
I  could  think  of  appeared  so  well  suited  to  my  wants  as 
librarian,  as  Solon ;  and  I  can  by  no  means  convey  to  you 
an  idea  of  the  satisfaction  with  which  he  hailed  my  offer, 
and  abandoning  the  rod  and  the  brass  tablets,  betook  him 
self  to  a  labour  which  would  yield  him  so  much  more 
leisure  for  the  perusal  of  his  favourite  authors,  and  the 
pursuit  of  his  favourite  studies.  He  is  already  deep  in  the 
question  whether  the  walls  of  Troy  were  accommodated 
with  thirty-three  or  thirty-nine  gates;  and  also  in  this, 
"What  was  the  method  of  construction  adopted  in  the 
case  of  the  wooden  horse,  and  what  was  its  capacity  ? " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  23 

Of  his    progress    in    these    matters   I   will    duly   inform 
you. 

But  I  weary  your  patience.     Farewell. 

Piso  alluding  in  this  letter  to  the  slaughter  on  the  Coslian 
Hill,  and  which  happened  not  long  before  it  was  written,  I 
will  add  here  that  whatever  colour  it  may  have  pleased 
Aurelian  to  give  to  that  affair,  —  as  if  it  were  occasioned  by 
a  dishonest  debasement  of  the  coin  by  the  directors  of  the 
mint,  —  there  is  now  no  doubt,  on  the  part  of  any  who  are 
familiar  with  the  history  of  that  period,  that  the  difficulty 
originated  in  a  much  deeper  and  more  formidable  cause, 
well  known  to  Aurelian  himself,  but  not  spoken  of  by  him 
in  alluding  to  the  event.  It  is  certain,  then,  that  the  civil 
war  which  then  befell,  for  such  it  was,  was  in  truth  the 
breaking  out  of  a  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  the  nobles  to 
displace  Aurelian  —  "a  German  peasant,"  as  they  scornfully 
designated  him,  —  and  set  one  of  their  own  order  upon  the 
throne.  They  had  already  bought  over  the  chief  manager 
of  the  public  mint,  a  slave  and  favourite  of  Aurelian,  and 
had  engaged  him  in  creating,  to  serve  the  purposes  which 
they  had  in  view,  an  immense  issue  of  spurious  coin.  This 
they  had  used  too  liberally,  in  effecting  some  of  the  prelimi 
nary  objects  of  their  movement.  It  was  suspected,  tried, 
proved  to  be  false,  and  traced  to  its  authors.  Before  they 
were  fully  prepared,  the  conspirators  were  obliged  to  take  to 
their  arms,  as  the  only  way  in  which  to  save  themselves 
from  the  executioner.  The  contest  was  one  of  the  bloodiest 
ever  known  within  the  walls  of  the  city.  It  was  Aurelian 
with  a  few  legions  of  his  army,  and  the  people,  —  always  of 
his  part,  —  against  the  wealth  and  the  power  of  the  nobility, 
and  their  paid  adherents.  In  one  day,  and  in  one  battle,  as 
it  may  be  termed,  fifteen  thousand  soldiers  and  citizens  were 
slain  in  the  streets  of  the  capital.  Truly  does  Piso  say  the 
streets  of  the  Coelian  ran  blood.  I  happily  was  within  the 
walls  of  the  queen's  palace  at  Tibur ;  but  well  do  I  remem 
ber  the  horror  of  the  time,  —  especially  the  days  succeeding 
the  battle,  when  the  vengeance  of  the  enraged  conqueror  fell 


24  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

upon  the  noblest  families  of  Rome,  and  the  axe  of  the  exe 
cutioner  was  blunted  and  broken  with  the  savage  work 
which  it  did. 

No  one  has  written  of  Aurelian  and  his  reign  who  has  not 
applauded  him  for  the  defence  which  he  made  of  his  throne 
and  crown,  when  traitorously  assailed  within  the  very  walls 
of  the  capital ;  but  all  unite  also  in  condemning  that  fierce 
spirit  of  revenge  which,  after  the  contest  was  over  and  his 
power  secure,  by  confiscation,  banishment,  torture,  and  death, 
involved  in  ruin  so  many  whom  a  different  treatment  would 
have  converted  into  friends.  But  Aurelian  was  by  nature  a 
tyrant;  it  was  accident  whenever  he  was  otherwise.  If 
affairs  moved  on  smoothly,  he  was  the  just  and  magnanimous 
prince ;  if  disturbed  and  perplexed,  and  his  will  crossed,  he 
was  the  imperious  and  vindictive  tyrant. 


FROM   PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  25 


LETTEK  II. 

FEOM   PISO  TO  FAUSTA. 

FRONTO,  THE  CHIEF-PRIEST  OF  APOLLO.  —  His  CONDUCT  TO  HIS 
SISTERS.  —  THE  FEARS  OF  PROBUS. —  FELIX,  BISHOP  OF  HOME. 
—  MILO'S  WARNING.  —  THE  ROMAN  BOOKSELLER.  —  VARUS. — 
MACER  AS  A  PREACHER.  —  THE  CHRISTIAN  BOOKS. 

YOU  need  not,  dear  Fausta,  concern  yourself  on  our  be 
half.  I  cannot  think  that  your  apprehensions  will 
be  realized.  Rome  never  was  more  calm  than  now,  nor 
apparently  has  there  ever  a  better  temper  possessed  its  peo 
ple.  The  number  of  those  who  are  sufficiently  enlightened 
to  know  that  the  mind  ought  not  to  be  in  bondage  to  man, 
but  be  held  answerable  to  God  alone  for  its  thoughts  and 
opinions,  is  becoming  too  great  for  the  violences  and  cruel 
ties  of  former  ages  to  be  again  put  in  practice  against  us. 
And  Aurelian,  although  stern  in  his  nature,  and  supersti 
tious  beyond  others,  will  not,  I  am  persuaded,  lend  him 
self  either  to  priests  or  people  to  annoy  us.  If  no  principle 
of  humanity  prevented  him,  nor  generosity  of  sentiment,  he 
would  be  restrained,  I  think,  by  his  attachments  to  so  many 
who  bear  the  hated  name. 

And  this  opinion  I  maintain,  notwithstanding  a  recent 
act  on  the  part  of  the  emperor  which  some  construe  into 
the  expression  of  unfavorable  sentiments  toward  us.  I 
allude  to  the  appointment  of  Fronto,  Nigridius  Fronto,  to 
be  chief-priest  of  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  which  has  these 
several  years  been  building,  and  is  now  just  completed. 
This  man  signalized  himself,  both  under  Decius  and  Vale 
rian,  for  his  bitter  hatred  of  the  Christians,  and  his  untir 
ing  zeal  in  the  work  of  their  destruction.  The  tales  which 
are  told  of  his  ferocious  barbarity  would  be  incredible,  did 
we  not  know  so  well  what  the  hard  Roman  heart  is  capable 


26  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

of.  It  is  reported  of  him  that  he  informed  against  his  own 
sisters  who  had  embraced  the  Christian  faith,  was  with 
those  who  hunted  them  with  bloodhounds  from  their  place 
of  concealment,  and  stood  by,  a  witness  and  an  executioner, 
while  they  were  torn  limb  from  limb,  and  devoured.  I 
doubt  not  the  truth  of  the  story.  And  from  that  day  to 
this  has  he  made  it  his  sole  office  to  see  that  all  the  laws 
that  bear  hard  upon  the  sect,  and  deprive  them  of  privi 
leges  and  immunities,  are  not  permitted  to  become  a  dead 
letter.  It  is  this  man,  drunk  with  blood,  whom  Aurelian 
has  put  in  chief  authority  in  his  new  temple  and  made 
him,  in  effect,  the  head  of  religion  in  the  city.  He  is,  how 
ever,  not  only  this.  He  possesses  other  traits  which  with 
reason  might  commend  him  to  the  regard  of  the  emperor. 
He  is  an  accomplished  man,  of  an  ancient  family,  and 
withal  no  mean  scholar.  He  is  a  Roman,  who  for  Rome's 
honour  or  greatness,  as  he  would  on  the  one  hand  sacrifice 
father,  mother,  daughter,  so  would  he  also  himself.  And 
Rome,  he  believes,  lives  but  in  her  religion ;  it  is  the  life- 
blood  of  the  state.  It  is  these  traits,  I  doubt  not,  that 
have  recommended  him  to  Aurelian,  rather  than  the  others. 
He  is  a  person  eminently  fitted  for  the  post  to  which  he  is 
exalted ;  and  you  well  know  that  it  is  the  circumstance  of 
fitness  Aurelian  alone  considers  in  appointing  his  own  or  the 
servants  of  the  state.  Probus  thinks  differently;  and  al 
though  he  sees  no  cause  to  apprehend  immediate  violence, 
confesses  his  fears  for  the  future.  He  places  less  reliance 
than  I  do  upon  the  generosity  or  friendship  of  Aurelian. 
It  is  his  conviction  that  superstition  is  the  reigning  power 
of  his  nature,  and  will  sooner  or  later  assert  its  supremacy. 
It  may  be  so.  Probus  is  an  acute  observer,  and  occupies  a 
position  more  favourable  to  impartial  estimates,  and  the  for 
mation  of  a  dispassionate  judgment  than  I. 

This  reminds  me  that  you  asked  for  news  of  Probus,  my 
"  Christian  pedagogue, "  as  you  are  wont  to  name  him.  He 
is  here,  adorning  by  a  life  of  severe  simplicity  and  divine 
benevolence,  the  doctrine  he  has  espoused.  He  is  a  fre 
quent  inmate  of  our  house,  and  Julia,  not  less  than  myself, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  27 

ever  greets  him  with  affectionate  reverence,  as  both  friend 
and  instructor.  He  holds  the  chief  place  in  the  hearts  of 
the  Eoman  Christians ;  for  even  those  of  the  sect  who  differ 
from  him  in  doctrine  and  in  life  cannot  but  acknowledge 
that  never  an  apostle  presented  to  the  love  and  imitation 
of  his  followers  an  example  of  rarer  virtue.  Yet  he  is  not, 
in  the  outward  rank  which  he  holds,  at  the  head  of  the 
Christian  body.  Their  chiefs  are,  as  you  know,  the 
bishops;  arid  Felix  is  Bishop  of  Eome,  a  man  everyway 
inferior  to  Probus.  But  he  has  the  good  or  ill  fortune  to 
represent  more  popular  opinions,  in  matter  both  of  doctrine 
and  practice,  than  the  other,  and  of  course  easily  rides  into 
the  posts  of  trust  and  honour.  He  represents  those  among 
the  Christians  —  for,  alas  !  there  are  such  among  them  — 
who,  in  seeking  the  elevation  and  extension  of  Christianity, 
do  not  hesitate  to  accommodate  both  doctrine  and  manner 
to  the  prejudices  and  tastes  of  both  Pagan  and  Jew.  They 
seek  converts,  not  by  raising  them  to  the  height  of  Chris 
tian  principle  and  virtue,  but  by  lowering  these  to  the 
level  of  their  grosser  conceptions.  Thus  it  is  easy  to  see 
that  in  the  hands  of  such  professors  the  Christian  doctrine 
is  undergoing  a  rapid  process  of  deterioration.  Probus,  and 
those  who  are  on  his  part,  see  this,  are  alarmed,  and  oppose 
it ;  but  numbers  are  against  them,  and  consequently  power 
and  authority.  Already,  strange  as  it  may  seem  when  you 
compare  such  things  with  the  institution  of  Christianity 
as  effected  by  its  founder,  do  the  bishops,  both  in  Eome 
and  in  the  provinces,  begin  to  assume  the  state  and  bearing 
of  nobility.  Such  is  the  number  and  wealth  of  the  Chris 
tian  community  that  the  treasuries  of  the  churches  are 
full ;  and  from  this  source  the  pride  and  ambition  of  their 
rulers  are  luxuriously  fed.  If,  as  you  walk  through  the 
street  which  crosses  from  the  Quirinal  to  the  Arch  of  Titus, 
lined  with  private  dwellings  of  unusual  magnificence,  you 
ask  whose  is  that  with  a  portico  that  for  beauty  and  cost 
liness  rather  exceeds  the  rest,  you  are  told,  "  That  is  the 
dwelling  of  Felix,  the  Bishop  of  Eome;"  and  if  it  chance 
to  be  a  Christian  who  answers  the  question,  it  ,is  done 


28  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

'with  ill-suppressed  pride  or  shame,  according  to  the  party 
to  which  he  belongs.  This  Felix  is  the  very  man,  through 
the  easiness  of  his  dispositions,  and  his  proneness  to  all 
the  arts  of  self-indulgence,  and  the  imposing  graciousness 
of  his  carriage,  to  keep  the  favour  of  the  people,  and  at  the 
same  time  sink  them,  without  suspicion  on  their  part, 
lower  and  lower  toward  the  sensual  superstitions  from 
which,  through  so  much  suffering  and  by  so  many  labours, 
they  have  but  just  escaped,  and  accomplish  an  adulterous 
and  fatal  union  between  Christianity  and  Paganism ;  by 
which  indeed  Paganism  may  be  to  some  extent  purified 
and  exalted,  but  Christianity  annihilated.  For  Chris 
tianity,  in  its  essence,  is  that  which  beckons  and  urges  on 
ward,  not  to  excellence  only  but  to  perfection.  Of  course 
its  mark  is  always  in  advance  of  the  present.  By  such 
union  with  Paganism,  then,  or  Judaism,  its  essential  char 
acteristic  will  disappear;  Christianity  will,  in  effect,  per 
ish.  You  may  suppose,  accordingly,  that  Probus  and 
others  who  with  him  rate  Christianity  so  differently,  look 
on  with  anxiety  upon  this  downward  progress, and  with  min 
gled  sorrow  and  indignation  upon  those  who  aid  it, —  often 
times  actuated,  as  is  notorious,  by  most  corrupt  motives. 

I  am  just  returned  from  the  shop  of  the  learned  Publius, 
where  I  met  Probus  and  others  of  many  ways  of  thinking. 
You  will  gather  from  what  occurred,  better  than  from  any 
thing  else  I  could  say,  what  occupies  the  thoughts  of  our 
citizens,  and  how  they  stand  affected. 

I  called  to  Milo  to  accompany  me,  and  to  take  with  him 
a  basket  in  which  to  bring  back  books,  which  it  was  my 
intention  to  purchase. 

"  I  trust,  noble  master, "  said  he,  "  that  I  am  to  bear 
back  no  more  Christian  books.  " 

"Why  so,  knave?" 

"  Because  the  priests  say  that  they  have  magical  powers 
over  all  who  read  them,  or  so  much  as  handle  them ;  that  a 
curse  sticks  wherever  they  are  or  have  been.  I  have  heard 
of  those  who  have  withered  away  to  a  mere  wisp ;  of  others 
who  have  suddenly  caught  on  fire  and  vanished  in  flame 


FROM  riSO   TO  FAUSTA.  29 

and  smoke;  and  of  others  whose  blood  has  stood  still, 
frozen,  or  run  out  from  all  parts  of  the  body,  changed  to 
the  very  colour  of  your  shoe,  at  their  bare  touch.  Who 
should  doubt  that  it  is  so  when  the  very  boys  in  the 
street  have  it,  and  it  is  taught  in  the  temples  ?  I  would 
rather  Solon,  noble  master,  went  in  my  stead.  Mayhap 
his  learning  would  protect  him.  " 

I,  laughing,  bade  him  come  on.  "  You  are  not  withered 
away  yet,  Milo,  nor  has  your  blood  run  out ;  yet  you  have 
borne  many  a  package  of  these  horrible  books.  Surely  the 
gods  befriend  you. " 

"  I  were  else  long  since  with  the  Scipios. "  After  a 
pause  of  some  length  he  added,  as  he  reluctantly  and  with 
features  of  increased  paleness  followed  in  my  steps :  — 

"  I  would,  my  master,  that  you  might  be  wrought  with 
to  leave  these  ways.  I  sleep  not  for  thinking  of  your  dan 
ger.  Never,  when  it  was  my  sad  mischance  to  depart  from 
the  deserted  palace  of  the  great  Gallienus,  did  I  look  to 
know  one  to  esteem  like  him.  But  it  is  the  truth  wnen  I 
affirm  that  I  place  Piso  before  Gallienus,  and  the  lady  Julia 
before  the  lady  Selonina.  Shall  I  tell  you  a  secret  ?" 

"  I  will  hear  it  if  it  is  not  to  be  kept.  " 

"  It  is  for  you  to  do  with  it  as  shall  please  you.  I  am 
the  bosom  friend,  you  may  know,  of  Curio,  the  favourite 
slave  of  Fronto. " 

"  Must  I  not  publish  it?" 

"  Nay,  that  is  not  the  matter,  though  it  is  somewhat  to 
boast  of.  There  is  not  Curio's  fellow  in  all  Eome.  But 
that  may  pass.  Curio  then,  as  I  was  with  him  at  the  new 
temple,  while  he  was  busied  in  some  of  the  last  offices 
before  the  dedication,  among  other  things  said,  'Is  not  thy 
master,  Piso,  of  these  Christians?'  'Yes,'  said  I,  'he  is; 
and  were  they  all  such  as  he,  there  could  be  no  truth  in 
what  is  said  of  them.'  'Ah,'  he  replied,  'there  are  few 
among  the  accursed  tribe  like  him.  He  has  but  just  joined 
them ;  that  's  the  reason  he  is  better  than  the  rest.  Wait 
a  while  and  see  what  he  will  become.  They  are  all  alike 
in  the  end,  — cursers,  and  despisers,  and  disbelievers  of  the 


30  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

blessed  gods.  But  lions  have  teeth,  tigers  have  claws, 
knives  cut,  fire  burns,  water  drowns. '  There  he  stopped. 
'That's  wise, '  I  said ;  'who  could  have  known  it  ? '  'Think 
you,'  he  rejoined,  'Piso  knows  it?  If  not,  let  him  ask 
Fronto.  Let  me  advise  thee, '  he  added,  in  a  whisper, 
though  in  all  the  temple  there  were  none  beside  us,  'let 
me  advise  thee,  as  thy  friend,  to  avoid  dangerous  com 
pany.  Look  to  thyself ;  the  Christians  are  not  safe. ' 
'How  say  you  ?'  I  replied ;  'not  safe  ?  What  and  whom  are 
they  to  fear?  Gallienus  vexed  them  not.  Is  Aurelian — ' 
'  Say  no  more, '  he  replied,  interrupting  me ;  '  and  name 
not  what  I  have  dropped,  for  your  life.  Fronto 's  ears  are 
more  than  the  eyes  of  Argus,  and  his  wrath  more  deadly 
than  the  grave. ' 

"  Just  as  he  ended  these  words  a  strong  beam  of  red  light 
shot  up  from  the  altar  and  threw  a  horrid  glare  over  the 
whole  dark  interior.  I  confess  I  cried  out  with  affright. 
Curio  started  at  first,  but  quickly  recovered,  saying  that  it 
was  but  the  sudden  flaming  up  of  the  fire  that  had  been 
burning  on  the  altar,  but  which  shortly  before  he  had 
quenched.  'It  is,'  he  said,  'an  omen  of  the  flames  that  are 
to  be  kindled  throughout  Eome. '  This  was  Curio's  com 
munication.  Is  it  not  a  secret  worth  knowing  ?" 

"  It  tells  nothing,  Milo,  but  of  the  boiling  over  of  the 
wrath  of  the  malignant  Fronto,  which  is  always  boiling 
over.  Doubtless  I  should  fare  ill  were  his  power  equal  to 
his  will  to  harm  us.  But  Aurelian  is  above  him.  " 

"  That  is  true ;  and  Aurelian,  it  is  plain,  is  little  like 
Fronto.  " 

"  Very  little. " 

"  But  still  I  would  that,  like  Gallienus,  thou  couldst 
only  believe  in  the  gods.  The  Christians,  so  it  is  re 
ported,  worship  and  believe  but  in  a  man,  —  a  Jew,  who 
was  crucified  as  a  criminal,  with  thieves  and  murderers. " 
He  turned  upon  me  a  countenance  full  of  unaffected 
horror. 

"  Well,  Milo,  at  another  time  I  will  tell  you  what  the 
truth  about  it  is.  Here  we  are  now  at  the  shop  of  Publius.  " 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  31 

The  shop  of  Publius  is  remarkable  for  its  extent  and 
magnificence,  if  such  a  word  may  be  applied  to  a  place  of 
traffic.  Here  resort  all  the  idlers  of  learning  and  of  leisure, 
to  turn  over  the  books,  hear  the  news,  discuss  the  times, 
and  trifle  with  the  learned  bibliopole.  As  1  entered,  he 
saluted  me  in  his  customary  manner  and  bade  me  "  wel 
come  to  his  poor  apartments,  which  for  a  long  time  I  had 
not  honoured  with  my  presence. " 

I  replied  that  two  things  had  kept  me  away, —  the  civil 
broils  in  which  the  city  had  just  been  involved,  and  the 
care  of  ordering  the  appointments  of  a  new  dwelling.  I 
had  come  now  to  commence  some  considerable  purchases 
for  my  vacant  shelves,  if  it  might  so  happen  that  the  books 
I  wanted  were  to  be  found  in  his  rooms. 

"  There  is  not, "  he  replied,  "  a  literature,  a  science,  a 
philosophy,  an  art,  or  a  religion,  whose  principal  authors 
are  not  to  be  found  upon  the  walls  of  Publius.  My  agents 
are  in  every  corner  of  the  empire,  of  the  east  and  west, 
searching  out  the  curious  and  the  rare,  the  useful  and  the 
necessary,  to  swell  the  catalogue  of  my  intellectual  riches. 
I  believe  it  is  established  that  in  no  time  before  me,  as 
nowhere  now,  has  there  been  heard  of  a  private  collection 
like  this  for  value  and  for  number.  " 

"  I  do  not  doubt  what  you  say,  Publius.  This  is  a  grand 
display.  Your  ranges  of  rooms  show  like  those  of  the 
Ulpian.  Yet,  you  do  not  quite  equal,  I  suppose,  Trajan's 
for  number?" 

"  Truly  not ;  but  time  may  bring  it  to  pass.  What 
shall  I  show  you  ?  It  pleases  me  to  give  my  time  to  you. 
I  am  not  slow  to  guess  what  it  is  you  now,  noble  Piso, 
chiefly  covet.  And  I  think  if  you  will  follow  me  to  the 
proper  apartment,  I  can  set  before  you  the  very  things  you 
are  in  search  of.  Here,  upon  these  shelves,  are  the  Chris 
tian  writers.  Just  let  me  offer  you  this  copy  of  Hege- 
sippus,  one  of  your  oldest  historians,  if  I  err  not.  And 
here  are  some  beautifully  executed  copies  I  have  just 
ordered  to  be  made  of  the  Apologies  of  Justin  and  Tertul- 
lian.  Here,  again,  are  Marcion  and  Valentinus ;  but  per- 


32  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

haps  they  are  not  in  esteem  with  you.  If  I  have  heard 
aright,  you  will  prefer  these  tracts  of  Paul  or  Artemon. 
But  hold,  here  is  a  catalogue ;  be  pleased  to  inspect  it.  " 

As  I  looked  over  the  catalogue  I  expressed  my  satis 
faction  that  a  person  of  his  repute  was  willing  to  keep  on 
sale  works  so  generally  condemned,  and  excluded  from  the 
shops  of  most  of  his  craft. 

"  I  aim,  my  dear  friend,  most  worthy  Piso,  to  steer  a 
midway  course  among  contending  factions.  I  am  myself 
a  worshipper  of  the  gods  of  my  fathers.  But  I  am  content 
that  others  should  do  as  they  please  in  the  matter.  I  am 
not,  however,  so  much  a  worshipper  —  in  your  ear  —  as  a 
bookseller.  That  is  my  calling.  The  Christians  are  be 
come  a  most  respectable  people.  They  are  not  to  be  over 
looked.  They  are,  in  my  judgment,  the  most  intelligent 
part  of  our  community.  Wasting  none  of  their  time  at 
the  baths  and  theatres,  they  have  more  time  for  books. 
And  then  their  numbers,  too  !  They  are  not  fewer  than 
seventy  thousand  !  —  known  and  counted.  But  the  num 
ber,  between  ourselves,  Piso,  of  those  who  secretly  favour  or 
receive  this  doctrine  is  equal  to  the  other  !  My  books  go 
to  houses,  ay,  and  to  palaces  people  dream  not  of.  " 

"  I  think  your  statements  a  little  broad, "  said  a  smooth, 
silvery  voice  close  at  our  ears.  We  started,  and  beheld 
the  prefect  Varus  standing  at  our  side.  Publius  was  for  a 
moment  a  little  disconcerted;  but  quickly  recovered,  say 
ing,  in  his  easy  way,"  A  fair  morning  to  you!  I  knew 
not  that  it  behooved  me  to  be  upon  my  oath,  being  in  the 
presence  of  the  Governor  of  Eome.  I  repeat,  noble  Varus, 
but  what  I  hear.  I  give  what  I  say  as  the  current  rumour 
—  that  is  all,  that  is  all.  Things  may  not  be  so,  or  they 
may ;  it  is  not  for  me  to  say.  I  wish  well  to  all ;  that  is 
my  creed.  " 

"  In  the  public  enumerations  of  the  citizens, "  replied  the 
prefect,  inclining  with  civility  to  Publius,  "  the  Christians 
have  reached  at  no  time  to  fifty  thousand.  As  for  the  con 
jecture  touching  the  numbers  who  secretly  embrace  this  in 
jurious  superstition,  I  hold  it  utterly  baseless.  It  may 


FROM   PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  33 

serve  a  dying  cause  to  repeat  such  statements,  but  they 
accord  not  with  obvious  fact. " 

"  Suspect  me  not,  Varus, "  hastily  rejoined  the  agitated 
Publius,  "  of  setting  forth  such  statements  with  the  pur 
pose  to  advance  the  cause  of  the  Christians.  I  take  no 
part  in  this  matter.  Thou  knowest  that  I  am  a  Roman  of 
the  old  stamp.  Not  a  Roman  in  my  street  is  more  dili 
gently  attentive  to  the  services  of  the  temple  than  I.  I 
simply  say  again  what  I  hear  as  news  of  my  customers. 
The  story  which  one  rehearses  I  retail  to  another. " 

"  I  thank  the  gods  it  is  so, "  replied  the  man  of  power. 

During  these  few  words  I  had  stood  partly  concealed  by 
a  slender  marble  pillar.  I  now  turned,  and  the  usual 
greetings  passed  with  the  prefect. 

"  Ah,  Piso  !  I  knew  not  with  certainty  my  hearer.  Per 
haps  from  you, "  smiling  as  he  spoke,  "  we  may  learn  the 
truth.  Rome  speaks  loudly  of  your  late  desertion  of  the 
religion  and  worship  of  your  fathers,  and  union  with  the 
Galileans.  I  should  say  I  hoped  the  report  ill  founded, 
had  I  not  heard  it  from  quarters  too  authentic  to  permit  a 
doubt.  " 

"  You  have  heard  rightly,  Varus, "  I  rejoined.  "  After 
searching  through  all  antiquity  after  truth,  I  congratulate 
myself  upon  having  at  last  discovered  it,  and  where  I  least 
expected,  in  a  Jew.  And  the  good  which  I  have  found  for 
myself,  I  am  glad  to  know  is  enjoyed  by  so  many  more  of 
my  fellow-citizens.  I  should  not  hesitate  to  confirm  the 
statement  made  by  Publius,  from  whatever  authority  he 
may  have  derived  it,  rather  than  that  which  has  been  made 
by  yourself.  I  have  bestowed  attention  not  only  upon  the 
arguments  which  support  Christianity,  but  upon  the  actual 
condition  of  the  Christian  community  here  and  throughout 
the  empire.  It  is  prosperous  at  this  hour  beyond  all  former 
example.  If  Pliny  could  complain,  even  in  his  day,  of  the 
desertion  of  the  temples  of  the  gods,  what  may  we  now 
suppose  to  be  the  relative  numbers  of  the  two  great  par 
ties  ?  Only,  Varus,  allow  the  rescript  of  Gallienus  to  con 
tinue  in  force,  which  merely  releases  us  from  oppressions, 

3 


34  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

and  we  shall  S3e  what  a  fair  trial  of  strength  between  the 
two  religions  will  issue. " 

"  That  dull  profligate  and  parricide,  "  replied  Varus,  "  not 
content  with  killing  himself  with  his  vices,  and  his  father 
by  connivance,  must  needs  destroy  his  country  by  his  fa 
tuity.  I  confess  that  till  that  order  be  repealed  the  super 
stition  will  spread. " 

"  But  it  only  places  us  upon  equal  ground.  " 

"  It  is  precisely  there  where  we  never  should  be  placed. 
Should  the  conspirator  be  put  upon  the  ground  of  a  citi 
zen  ?  Were  the  late  rebels  of  the  mint  to  be  relieved  from 
all  oppression,  that  they  might  safely  intrigue  and  conspire 
for  the  throne  ?" 

"  Christianity  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  empire,  as  such. 
It  is  a  question  of  moral,  philosophical,  religious  truth.  Is 
truth  to  be  exalted  or  suppressed  by  edicts  ?" 

"  The  religion  of  the  state, "  replied  Varus,  "  is  a  part  of 
the  state ;  and  he  who  assails  it  strikes  at  the  dearest  life 
of  the  state,  and,  forgive  me,  is  to  be  dealt  with,  ought  to 
be  dealt  with,  as  a  traitor.  " 

"  I  trust, "  I  replied,  "  that  that  time  will  never  again 
come,  but  that  reason  and  justice  will  continue  to  bear 
sway.  And  it  is  both  reasonable  and  just  that  persons  who 
yield  to  none  in  love  of  country,  and  whose  principles  of 
conduct  are  such  as  must  make  good  subjects  everywhere, 
because  they  first  make  good  men,  should  be  protected  in 
the  enjoyment  of  rights  and  privileges  common  to  all 
others. " 

"If  the  Christians,"  he  rejoined,  "are  virtuous  men,  it 
is  better  for  the  state  than  if  they  were  Christians  and 
corrupt  men.  But  still  that  would  make  no  change  in  my 
judgment  of  their  offence.  They  deny  the  gods  who  pre 
side  over  this  nation,  and  have  brought  it  up  to  its  present 
height  of  power  and  fame.  Their  crime  were  less,  I  re 
peat,  to  deny  the  authority  of  Aurelian.  This  religion  of 
the  Galileans  is  a  sore,  eating  into  the  vitals  of  an  ancient 
and  vigorous  constitution,  and  must  be  cut  away.  The 
knife  of  the  surgeon  is  what  the  evil  cries  out  for,  and 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  35 

must  have ;  else  universal  anarchy  is  come.  I  mourn  that 
from  the  ranks  of  the  very  fathers  of  the  state  they  have 
received  an  accession  like  this  of  the  house  of  Piso. " 

"  I  shall  think  my  time  and  talent  well  employed, "  I 
replied,  "  in  doing  what  I  may  to  set  the  question  of  Chris 
tianity  in  its  true  light  before  the  city.  It  is  this  very 
institution,  Varus,  which  it  needs  to  preserve  it.  Chris 
tianize  Home,  and  you  impart  the  very  principle  of  endur 
ance,  of  immortality.  Under  its  present  corruptions  it 
cannot  but  sink.  Is  it  possible  a  community  of  men  can 
long  hold  together  as  vicious  as  this  of  Eome, —  whose 
people  are  either  disbelievers  of  all  divine  existences,  or 
else  ground  to  the  earth  by  degrading  superstitions  ?  A 
nation,  either  on  the  one  hand  governed  by  superstition, 
or,  on  the  other,  atheistical,  contains  within  itself  trie 
disease  which  sooner  or  later  will  destroy  it.  You  your 
self,  it  is  notorious,  have  never  been  within  the  walls  of 
a  temple,  nor  are  Lares  nor  Penates  to  be  found  within 
your  doors.  " 

"  I  deny  it  not.  Most  who  rise  to  any  intelligence  must 
renounce,  if  they  ever  harboured  it,  all  faith  in  the  absurd 
ities  and  nonsense  of  the  Eoman  religion.  But  what 
then  ?  These  very  absurdities,  as  we  deem  them,  are  holy 
truth  to  the  multitude,  and  do  more  than  all  bolts,  bars, 
axes,  and  gibbets,  to  keep  them  in  subjection.  The  intel 
ligent  are  good  citizens  by  reflection  ;  the  multitude  through 
instincts  of  birth  and  the  power  of  superstition.  My  idea 
is,  as  you  perceive,  Piso,  but  one.  Eeligion  is  the  state, 
and  for  reasons  of  state  must  be  preserved  in  the  very  form 
in  which  it  has  so  long  upheld  the  empire. 

"  An  idea  more  degrading  than  yours  to  our  species  can 
hardly  be  conceived.  I  cannot  but  look  upon  man  as  some 
thing  more  than  a  part  of  the  state.  He  is,  first  of  all,  a 
man,  and  is  to  be  cared  for  as  such.  To  legislate  for  the 
state  to  the  ruin  of  the  man,  is  to  pamper  the  body  and 
kill  the  soul.  It  is  to  invert  the  true  process.  The  indi 
vidual  is  more  than  the  abstraction  which  we  term  the 
state.  If  governments  cannot  exist,  nor  empires  hold 


36  LETTERS  FROM    ROME. 

their  sway,  but  by  the  destruction  of  the  human  being, 
why,  let  them  fall.  The  lesser  must  yield  to  the  greater. 
As  a  Christian,  my  concern  is  for  man  as  man.  This  is 
the  essence  of  the  religion  of  Christ.  It  is  philanthropy. 
It  sees  in  every  human  soul  a  being  of  more  value  than 
empires,  and  its  purpose  is,  by  furnishing  it  with  truths 
and  motives  equal  to  its  wants,  to  exalt  it,  purify  it,  and 
perfect  it.  If,  in  achieving  this  work,  existing  religions 
or  governments  are  necessarily  overturned  or  annihilated, 
Christianity  cares  not,  so  long  as  man  is  the  gainer.  And 
is  it  not  certain  that  no  government  could  really  be  in 
jured  —  although  it  might  apparently,  and  for  a  season  —  by 
its  subjects  being  raised  in  all  intelligence  and  all  virtue  ? 
My  work,  therefore,  Yarus,  will  be  to  sow  truth  in  the 
heart  of  the  people,  which  shall  make  that  heart  fertile 
and  productive.  I  do  not  believe  that  in  doing  this  Rome 
will  suffer  injury,  but,  on  the  contrary,  receive  benefit. 
Its  religion,  or  rather  its  degrading  superstitions,  may  fall, 
but  a  principle  of  almighty  energy  and  divine  purity  will 
insensibly  be  substituted  in  their  room.  I  labour  for  man, 
not  for  the  state.  " 

"  And  never,  accordingly,  most  noble  Piso,  did  man,  in 
words  so  unequivocal,  denounce  himself  traitor.  " 

"  Patriot !  friend !  benefactor !  rather, "  cried  a  voice  at 
my  side,  which  I  instantly  recognized  as  that  of  Probus. 
Several  besides  himself  had  drawn  near,  listening  with  in 
terest  to  what  was  going  on. 

"  That  only  shows,  my  good  friend,"  said  Varus,  in  his 
smiling  way,  and  which  seems  the  very  contradiction  of  all 
that  is  harsh  and  cruel,  "  how  differently  we  estimate 
things.  Your  palate  esteems  that  to  be  wholesome  and 
nutritious  food  which  mine  rejects  as  ashes  to  the  taste 
and  poison  to  the  blood.  I  behold  Rome  torn  and  bleed 
ing,  prostrate  and  dying,  by  reason  of  innovations  upon 
faith  and  manners  which  to  you  appear  the  very  means  of 
growth,  strength,  and  life.  How  shall  we  resolve  the 
doubt  ?  Who  shall  prescribe  for  the  patient  ?  I  am  happy 
in  the  belief  that  the  Roman  people  have  long  since  de- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  37 

cided  for  themselves,  and  confirm  their  decision  every  day 
as  it  passes  by  new  acts  and  declarations.  " 

"  If  you  mean, "  said  Probus,  "  to  say  that  numbers  and 
the  general  voice  are  still  against  the  Christians,  I  grant 
it  so.  But  I  am  happy,  too,  in  my  belief  that  the  scale 
is  trembling  on  the  beam.  There  are  more  and  better  than 
you  wot  of  who  hail  with  eager  minds  and  glad  hearts  the 
truths  which  it  is  our  glory,  as  servants  of  Christ,  to  pro 
pound.  Within  many  a  palace  upon  the  seven  hills  do 
prayers  go  up  in  his  name;  and,  what  is  more,  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  the  humbler  ranks  of  those  who  but  yes 
terday  were  without  honour  in  their  own  eyes  or  others', 
without  faith,  at  war  with  themselves  and  the  world, 
fit  tools  for  any  foe  of  the  state  to  work  with,  are  to-day 
reverers  of  themselves,  worshippers  of  God,  lovers  of  man 
kind,  patriots  who  love  their  country  better  than  ever 
before,  because  they  now  behold  in  every  citizen  not  only 
a  citizen  but  a  brother  and  an  immortal.  The  doctrine  of 
Christianity,  as  a  lover  of  man,  so  commends  itself,  Varus, 
to  the  hearts  of  the  people  that  in  a  few  more  years  of 
prosperity,  and  the  face  of  the  Eoman  world  will  glow 
with  a  new  beauty ;  love  and  humanity  will  shine  forth 
in  all  its  features. " 

"  That  is  very  pretty, "  said  Yarus,  his  lip  slightly  curl 
ing  as  he  spoke,  but  retaining  his  courteous  bearing ;  "  yet 
methinks,  seeing  this  doctrine  is  so  bewitching,  and  is 
withal  a  heaven-inspired  wisdom,  the  God  working  behind 
it  and  urging  it  on,  it  moves  onward  with  a  pace  something 
of  the  slowest.  Within  a  few  of  three  hundred  years  has 
it  appealed  to  the  human  race,  and  appealed  in  vain.  The 
feeblest  and  the  worst  of  mankind  have  had  power  almost 
to  annihilate  it,  and  more  than  once  has  it  seemed  scarce 
to  retain  its  life.  Would  it  have  been  so  had  it  been  in 
reality  what  you  claim  for  it,  of  divine  birth?  Would 
the  gods  suffer  their  schemes  for  man's  good  to  be  so 
thwarted,  and  driven  aside  by  man  ?  What  was  this 
boasted  faith  doing  during  the  long  and  peaceful  reigns  of 
Hadrian  and  the  first  Antonine  ?  The  sword  of  persecution 


38  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

was  then  sheathed,  or,  if  it  fell  at  all,  it  was  but  on  a  few. 
So,  too,  under  Vespasian,  Titus,  Nerva,  Commodus,  Severus, 
Heliogabalus,  the  Philips,  Gallienus,  and  Claudius.  " 

"  That  is  well  said, "  a  Eoman  voice  added,  of  one  stand 
ing  by  the  side  of  Varus,  "  and  is  a  general  wonder.  " 

"  I  marvel  it  should  be  a  wonder, "  rejoined  Probus. 
"  Can  you  pour  into  a  full  measure  ?  Must  it  not  be  first 
emptied  ?  Who,  Yarus,  let  him  try  as  he  may,  could 
plant  the  doctrine  of  Christ  in  thy  heart  ?  Could  I  do  it, 
think  you,  or  Piso  ?  " 

"  I  trow  not.  " 

"  And  why,  I  pray  you  ?  " 

"  It  is  not  hard  to  guess. " 

"  Is  it  not  because  you  are  already  full  of  contrary 
notions,  to  which  you  cling  tenaciously,  and  from  which, 
perhaps,  no  human  force  could  drag  you  ?  But  yours  is  a 
type  of  every  other  Eoman  mind  to  which  Christianity  has 
been  offered.  If  you  receive  it  not  at  once,  should  others  ? 
Suppose  the  soul  to  be  full  of  sincere  convictions  as  to  the 
popular  faith,  can  the  Gospel  easily  enter  there  ?  Suppose 
it  sceptical  as  to  all  spiritual  truth,  can  it  enter  there  ? 
Suppose  it  polluted  by  vice,  can  it  easily  enter  there  ? 
Suppose  it  like  the  soul  of  Fronto  — ?" 

"  Hush  !  hush  ! "  said  several  voices.  Probus  heeded 
them  not. 

"  Suppose  it  like  the  soul  of  Fronto,  could  it  enter  there  ? 
See  you  not,  then,  by  knowing  your  own  hearts,  what  time 
it  must  demand  for  a  new  and  specially  a  strict  doctrine, 
to  make  its  way  into  the  minds  of  men  ?  'T  is  not  easier  to 
bore  a  rock  with  one's  finger  than  to  penetrate  a  heart 
hardened  by  sin  or  swelled  with  prejudice  and  pride. 
And  if  we  say,  Varus,  this  was  a  work  for  the  God  to  do  — 
that  he  who  originated  the  faith  should  propagate  it  —  I 
answer,  that  would  not  be  like  the  other  dealings  of  the 
divine  power.  He  furnishes  you  with  earth  and  seed,  but 
he  ploughs  not  for  you,  nor  plants,  nor  reaps.  He  gives 
you  reason,  but  he  pours  not  knowledge  into  your  mind. 
So  he  offers  truth  ;  but  that  is  all.  He  compels  no  assent ; 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  39 

he  forces  no  belief.  All  is  voluntary  and  free.  How,  then, 
can  the  march  of  truth  be  otherwise  than  slow  ?  Truth, 
being  the  greatest  thing  below,  resembles  in  its  port  the 
motion  of  the  stars,  which  are  the  greatest  things  above. 
But  like  theirs,  if  slow,  it  is  ever  sure  and  onward.  " 

"  The  stars  set  in  night. " 

"  But  they  rise  again.  Truth  is  eclipsed  often,  and  it 
sets  for  a  night;  but  never  is  turned  aside  from  its  eternal 
path.  " 

"  Never,  Publius, "  said  the  prefect,  adjusting  his  gown, 
and  with  the  act  filling  the  air  with  perfume, —  "  never  did 
I  think  to  find  myself  within  a  Christian  church.  Your 
shop  possesses  many  virtues.  It  is  a  place  to  be  instructed 
in.  "  Then  turning  to  Probus,  he  soothingly  and  in  per 
suasive  tones  added,  "  Be  advised  now,  good  friend,  and 
leave  off  thy  office  of  teacher.  Eome  can  well  spare  thee. 
Take  the  judgment  of  others ;  we  need  not  thy  doctrine. 
Let  that  alone  which  is  well  established  and  secure.  Spare 
these  institutions,  venerable  through  a  thousand  years. 
Leave  changes  to  the  gods. " 

Probus  was  about  to  reply,  when  we  were  strangely  in 
terrupted.  While  we  had  been  conversing,  there  stood 
before  me,  in  the  midst  of  the  floor  of  the  apartment,  a 
man  whose  figure,  face,  and  demeanour  were  such  that 
I  hardly  could  withdraw  my  eyes  from  him.  He  was 
tall  and  gaunt  beyond  all  I  ever  saw,  and  erect  as  a  praeto 
rian  in  the  ranks.  His  face  was  strongly  Eoman,  thin  and 
bony,  with  sunken  cheeks,  a  brown  and  wrinkled  skin,  - 
not  through  age,  but  exposure,  —  and  eyes  more  wild  and 
fiery  than  ever  glared  in  the  head  of  Hun  or  hyaena.  He 
seemed  a  living  firebrand  of  death  and  ruin.  As  we  talked 
he  stood  there  motionless,  sometimes  casting  glances  at 
our  group,  but  more  frequently  fixing  them  upon  a  roll 
which  he  held  in  his  hands. 

As  Varus  uttered  the  last  words  this  man  suddenly  left 
his  post,  and  reaching  us  with  two  or  three  strides,  shook 
his  long  finger  at  Varus,  saying  at  the  same  time, — 

"  Hold,  blasphemer !  " 


40  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

The  prefect  started  as  if  struck,  and  gazing  a  moment 
with  unfeigned  amazement  at  the  figure,  then  immediately 
burst  into  a  laugh,  crying  out,  — 

"  Ha  !  ha !  Who  in  the  name  of  Hecate  have  we  here  ? 
Ha  !  ha  !  —  he  seerns  just  escaped  from  the  Vivaria.  " 

"  Thy  laugh, "  said  the  figure,  "  is  the  music  of  a  sick 
and  dying  soul.  It  is  a  rebel's  insult  against  the  majesty 
of  Heaven.  Ay,  laugh  on  !  That  is  what  the  devils  do ; 
it  is  the  merriment  of  hell.  What  time  they  burn  not 
they  laugh.  Bat  enough.  Hold  now  thy  scoffing,  Prefect 
Varus,  for  high  as  thou  art  I  fear  thee  not,  —  no  !  not  wert 
thou  twice  Aurelian,  instead  of  Varus.  I  have  somewhat 
for  thee.  Wilt  hear  it  ?  " 

"  With  delight,  Bubo.      Say  on.  " 

"  It  was  thy  word  just  now,  'Eome  needs  not  this  doc 
trine, '  was  it  not?" 

"  If  I  said  it  not,  it  is  a  good  saying,  and  I  will  father  it.  " 

"  'Kome  needs  not  this  doctrine;  she  is  well  enough; 
let  her  alone. '  These  were  thy  words.  Need  not,  Varus, 
the  streets  of  Eome  a  cleansing  river  to  purify  them  ?  Dost 
thou  think  them  well  enough  till  all  the  fountains  have 
been  let  loose  to  purge  them?  Is  Tarquin's  sewer  a  place 
to  dwell  in  ?  Could  all  the  waters  of  Eome  sweeten  it  ? 
The  people  of  Eome  are  fouler  than  her  highways.  The 
sewers  are  sweeter  than  the  very  worshippers  of  our  tem 
ples.  Thou  knowest  somewhat  of  this.  Wast  ever  present 
at  the  rites  of  Bacchus  ?  —  or  those  of  the  Cyprian  god 
dess  ?  Nay,  blush  not  yet.  Didst  ever  hear  of  the  gladiator 
Pollex  ?  —  of  the  woman  Csecina  ?  —  of  the  boy  Lselius,  and 
the  fair  girl  Fannia  —  proffered  and  sold- by  the  parents, 
Pollex  and  Csecina,  to  the  loose  pleasures  of  Gallienus  ? 
Now  I  give  thee  leave  to  blush  !  Is  it  nought  that  the  one 
half  of  Eome  is  sunk  in  a  sensuality,  a  beastly  drunkenness 
and  lust,  fouler  than  that  of  old  which,  in  Judea,  called 
down  the  fiery  vengeance  of  the  insulted  heavens  ?  Thou 
knowest  well,  both  from  early  experience  and  because  of 
thy  office,  what  the  purlieus  of  the  theatres  are,  and  places 
worse  than  those,  and  which  to  name  were  an  offence.  But 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  4l 

to  you  they  need  not  be  named.  Is  all  this,  Varus,  well 
enough  ?  Is  this  that  venerable  order  thou  wouldst  not 
have  disturbed  ?  Is  that  to  be  charged  as  impiety  and 
atheism  which  aims  to  change  and  reform  it?  Are  they 
conspirators,  and  rebels,  and  traitors,  whose  sole  office  and 
labour  is  to  mend  these  degenerate  morals,  to  heal  these 
corrupting  sores,  to  pour  a  better  life  into  the  rotting  car 
cass  of  this  guilty  city  ?  Is  it  for  our  pastime  or  our  profit 
that  we  go  about  this  always  dangerous  work  ?  Is  it  a 
pleasure  to  hear  the  jibes,  jests,  and  jeers  of  the  streets  and 
the  places  of  public  resort  ?  Will  you  not  believe  that  it 
is  for  some  great  end  that  we  do  and  bear  as  thou  seest,  — 
even  the  redemption,  and  purifying,  and  saving  of  Eome  ? 
I  love  Kome  even  as  a  mother,  and  for  her  am  ready  to  die. 
I  have  bled  for  her  freely  in  battle,  in  Gaul,  upon  the  Dan 
ube,  in  Asia,  and  in  Egypt.  I  am  willing  to  bleed  for  her 
at  home,  even  unto  death,  if  that  blood  might,  through  the 
blessing  of  God,  be  a  stream  to  cleanse  her  putrefying 
members.  But  oh,  holy  Jesus !  why  waste  I  words  upon 
one  whose  heart  is  harder  than  the  nether  millstone  ?  Thou 
preachedst  not  to  Pilate,  nor  didst  thou  work  thy  wonders 
for  Herod.  Yarus,  beware.  " 

And  with  these  words,  uttered  with  a  wild  and  threat 
ening  air,  he  abruptly  turned  away,  and  was  lost  in  the 
crowds  of  the  street. 

While  he  raved,  the  prefect  maintained  the  same  un 
ruffled  demeanour  as  before.  His  customary  smile  played 
around  his  mouth,  a  smile  like  no  other  I  ever  saw.  To  a 
casual  observer  it  would  seem  like  every  other  smile,  but 
to  one  who  watches  him,  it  is  evident  that  it  denotes  no 
hilarity  of  heart,  for  the  eyes  accompany  it  not  with  a 
corresponding  expression,  but,  on  the  contrary,  look  forth 
from  their  beautiful  cavities  with  glances  that  speak  of 
anything  rather  than  of  peace  and  good-will.  So  soon  as 
the  strange  being  who  had  been  declaiming  had  disap 
peared,  the  prefect,  turning  to  me,  as  he  drew  up  his  gown 
around  him,  said, — 

"  I  give  you  joy,  Piso,  of  your  coadjutor.     A  few  more 


42  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

of  the  same  fashion,  and  Rome  is  safe.  "  And  saluting  us 
with  urbanity,  he  sallied  from  the  shop. 

I  had  been  too  much  amazed  myself  during  this  scene 
to  do  anything  else  than  stand  still,  and  listen,  and  ob 
serve.  As  for  Probus,  I  saw  him  to  be  greatly  moved,  and 
give  signs  of  even  deep  distress.  He  evidently  knew  who 
the  person  was,  as  I  saw  him  make  more  than  one  ineffec 
tual  effort  to  arrest  him  in  his  harangue,  and  as  evidently 
held  him  in  respect,  seeing  he  abstained  from  all  inter 
ruption  of  a  speech  that  he  felt  to  be  provoking  wantonly 
the  passions  of  the  prefect,  and  of  many  who  stood  around, 
from  whom,  so  soon  as  the  man  of  authority  had  with 
drawn,  angry  words  broke  forth  abundantly. 

"  Well  did  the  noble  prefect  say  that  that  wild  animal 
had  come  forth  like  a  half-famished  tiger  from  the  Vi 
varia, "  said  one. 

"  It  is  singular, "  observed  another,  "  that  a  man  who 
pretends  to  reform  the  state,  should  think  to  do  it  by  first 
putting  it  into  a  rage  with  him  and  all  he  utters.  " 

"  Especially  singular, "  added  a  third,  "  that  the  advo 
cate  of  a  religion  that,  as  I  hear,  condemns  violence,  and 
consists  in  the  strictness  with  which  the  passions  are  gov 
erned,  should  suppose  that  he  was  doing  any  other  work 
than  entering  a  breach  in  his  own  citadel,  by  such  ferocity. 
But  it  is  quite  possible  his  wits  are  touched. " 

"  No,  I  presume  not, "  said  the  first ;  "  this  is  a  kind  of 
zeal  which,  if  I  have  observed  aright,  the  Christians  hold 
in  esteem. " 

As  these  separated  to  distant  parts  of  the  shop,  I  said  to 
Probus,  who  seemed  heavily  oppressed  by  what  had  oc 
curred,  "  What  demon  dwells  in  that  body  that  has  just 
departed  ? " 

"  Well  do  you  say  'demon. '  The  better  mind  of  that 
man  seems  ofttimes  seized  upon  by  some  foul  spirit,  and 
bound,  and  which  then  acts  and  speaks  in  its  room.  But 
do  you  not  know  him  ?  " 

"  No,  truly ;  he  is  a  stranger  to  me,  as  he  appears  to  be 
to  all. " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  43 

"  Nevertheless,  you  have  been  in  his  company.  You  for 
get  not  the  Mediterranean  voyage  ?  " 

"  By  no  means.  I  enjoyed  it  highly,  and  recall  it  ever 
with  delight." 

"  Do  you  not  remember,  at  the  time  I  narrated  to  you 
the  brief  story  of  my  life,  that,  as  I  ended,  a  rough  voice 
from  among  the  soldiers  exclaimed,  'Where  now  are  the 
gods  of  Eome?'  This  is  that  man,  the  soldier  Macer; 
then  bound  with  fellow-soldiers  to  the  service  in  Africa, 
now  a  Christian  preacher. " 

"  I  see  it  now.  That  man  impressed  me  then,  with  his 
thin  form  and  all-devouring  eyes.  But  the  African  cli 
mate,  and  the  gash  across  his  left  cheek,  and  which  seems 
to  have  slightly  disturbed  the  eye  upon  that  side,  have 
made  him  a  different  being,  and  almost  a  terrific  one.  Is 
he  sound  and  sane?" 

"  Perfectly  so, "  replied  Probus,  "  unless  we  may  say  that 
souls  earnestly  devoted  and  zealous  are  mad.  There  is  not 
a  more  righteous  soul  in  Eome.  His  conscience  is  bare 
and  shrinking  like  a  fresh  wound.  His  breast  is  warm 
and  fond  as  a  woman's.  His  penitence  for  the  wild  errors 
of  his  pagan  youth  a  consuming  fire,  which  while  it  re 
doubles  his  ardour  in  doing  what  he  may  in  the  cause  of 
truth,  rages  in  secret,  and,  if  the  sword  or  the  cross  claim 
him  not,  will  bring  him  to  the  grave.  He  is  utterly  in 
capable  of  fear.  All  the  racks  and  the  dungeons  of  Eome, 
with  their  tormentors,  could  not  terrify  him.  " 

"  You  now  interest  me  in  him.  I  must  see  and  know 
him.  It  might  be  of  service  to  him  and  to  all,  Probus, 
methinks,  if  he  could  be  brought  to  associate  with  those 
whose  juster  notions  might  influence  his,  and  modify  them 
to  the  rule  of  truth. " 

"  I  fear  not.  What  he  sees,  he  sees  clearly  and  strongly, 
and  by  itself.  He  understands  nothing  of  one  truth  bear 
ing  upon  another,  and  adding  to  it  or  taking  from  it. 
Truth  is  truth  with  him,  and  as  his  own  mind  perceives 
it,  not  another's.  His  conscience  will  allow  him  in  no 
accommodations  to  other  men's  opinions  or  wishes.  He 


44  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

is  impatient  under  an  argument  as  a  war-horse  under  the 
rein  after  the  trumpet  sounds.  It  is  unavoidable,  there 
fore,  but  he  should  possess  great  power  among  the  Chris 
tians  of  Rome.  His  are  the  bold  and  decisive  qualities 
that  strike  the  common  mind.  There  is  glory  and  ap 
plause  in  following  and  enduring  under  such  a  leader. 
Many  are  fain  to  believe  him  divinely  illuminated  and 
impelled,  —  to  unite  the  characters  of  teacher  and  prophet; 
and  from  knowing  that  he  is  so  regarded  by  others,  Macer 
has  come  almost  to  believe  it  himself.  He  is  tending 
more  and  more  to  construe  every  impulse  of  his  own  mind 
into  a  divine  suggestion,  and,  I  believe,  honestly  experi 
ences  diificulty  in  discriminating  between  them.  Still,  I 
do  not  deny  that  it  would  be  of  advantage  for  him  more 
and  more  to  come  in  contact  with  sober  and  enlightened 
minds.  I  shall  take  pleasure,  at  some  fitting  moment,  to 
accompany  you  to  his  humble  dwelling ;  the  rather  as  I 
would  show  you  also  his  wife  and  children,  all  of  whom 
are,  like  himself,  Christians. " 

"  I  shall  not  forget  the  promise.  " 

Whereupon  we  separated. 

I  then  searched  for  Publius,  and  making  my  purchases, 
returned  home,  Milo  following  with  the  books. 

As  Milo  relieved  himself  of  his  burden,  discharging  it 
upon  the  floor  of  the  library,  I  overheard  him  to  say,  — 

"  Lie  there,  accursed  rolls !  May  the  flames  consume 
you,  ere  you  are  again  upon  my  shoulders  !  For  none  but 
Piso  would  I  have  done  what  I  have.  Let  me  to  the  tem 
ple  and  expiate. " 

"  What  words  are  these  ?  "  cried  Solon,  emerging  sud 
denly  at  the  sound  from  a  recess.  "  Who  dares  to  heap 
curses  upon  books  which  are  the  soul  embalmed  and  made 
imperishable?  What  have  we  here  ?  Aha  !  a  new  treasure 
for  these  vacant  shelves,  and  most  trimly  ordered.  " 

"  These,  venerable  Greek, "  exclaimed  Milo,  waving  him 
away,  "  are  books  of  magic, —  oriental  magic  !  Have  a  care  ! 
A  touch  may  be  fatal !  Our  noble  master  affects  the 
Egyptians.  " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  45 

"Magic!"  exclaimed  Solon,  with  supreme  contempt; 
"  art  thou  so  idiotic  as  to  put  credence  in  such  fancies  ? 
Away !  —  hinder  me  not ! "  And  saying  so,  he  eagerly 
grasped  a  volume,  and  unrolling  it  to  the  beginning  of  the 
work,  dropped  it  suddenly,  as  if  bitten  by  a  serpent. 

"  Ha  !  "  cried  Milo,  "  said  I  not  so  ?  Art  thou  so  idiotic, 
learned  Solon,  as  to  believe  in  such  fancies  ?  How  is  it 
with  thee  ?  Is  thy  blood  hot,  or  cold  ?  —  thy  teeth  loose,  or 
fast  ?  —  thy  arm  withered,  or  swollen  ?  " 

Solon  stood  surveying  the  pile,  with  a  look  partly  of 
anger,  partly  of  sorrow. 

"  Neither,  fool ! "  he  replied.  "  These  possess  not  the 
power  or  worth  fabled  of  magic.  They  are  books  of 
dreams,  visions,  reveries,  which  are  to  the  mind  what 
fogs  would  be  for  food,  and  air  for  drink, —  innutritive  and 
vain.  Papias  !  Irena3us  !  Hegesippus  !  Polycarp  !  Origen  ! 
— 'Whose  names  are  these,  and  to  whom  familiar?  Some 
are  Greek,  some  are  Latin,  but  not  a  name  famous  in  the 
world  meets  my  eye.  But  we  will  order  them  on  their 
shelves,  and  trust  that  time,  which  accomplishes  all 
things,  will  restore  reason  to  Piso.  Milo,  essay  thy 
strength,  —  my  limbs  are  feeble, — and  lift  these  upon 
yonder  marble ;  so  may  age  deal  gently  with  thee. " 

"  Not  for  their  weight  in  wisdom,  Solon,  would  I  again 
touch  them.  I  have  borne  them  hither,  and  if  the  priests 
speak  truly,  my  life  is  worth  not  an  obolus.  I  were  mad 
to  tempt  my  fate  farther.  " 

"  Avaunt  thee,  then,  for  a  fool  and  a  slave,  as  thou 
art!" 

"  Nay  now,  master  Solon,  thy  own  wisdom  forsakes 
thee.  Philosophers,  they  say,  are  ever  possessors  of  them 
selves,  though  for  the  rest  they  be  beggars.  " 

"  Beggar !  sayest  thou  ?  Avaunt,  I  say,  or  Papias  shall 
teach  thee !  "  and  he  would  have  launched  the  roll  at  the 
head  of  Milo,  but  that  with  quick  instinct,  he  shot  from 
the  apartment,  and  left  the  pedagogue  to  do  his  own 
bidding. 

So,  Fausta,  you  see  that  Solon  is  still  the  irritable  old 


46  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

man  he  was,  and  Milo  the  fool  he  was.  Think  not  me 
worse  than  either,  for  hoping  so  to  entertain  you.  I  know 
that  in  your  solitude  and  grief  even  such  pictures  may  be 
welcome. 

When  I  related  to  Julia  the  scene  and  the  conversation 
at  the  shop  of  Publius,  she  listened  not  without  agitation, 
and  expresses  her  fears  lest  such  extravagances,  repeated 
and  become  common,  should  inflame  the  minds  both  of  the 
people  and  their  rulers  against  the  Christians.  Though  I 
agree  with  her  in  lamenting  the  excess  of  zeal  displayed  by 
many  of  the  Christians,  and  their  needless  assaults  upon 
the  characters  and  faith  of  their  opposers,  I  cannot  appre 
hend  serious  consequences  from  them,  because  they  are  so 
few  and  rare,  and  are  palpable  exceptions  to  the  general 
character  which  I  believe  the  whole  city  would  unite  in 
ascribing  to  the  Christians.  Their  mildness  and  pacific 
temper  are  perhaps  the  very  traits  by  which  they  are  most 
distinguished,  with  which  they  are  indeed  continually  re 
proached.  Yet  individual  acts  are  often  the  remote  causes 
of  vast  universal  evil,  —  of  bloodshed,  war,  «and  revolution. 
Macer  alone  is  enough  to  set  on  fire  a  city,  a  continent, 
a  world. 

I  rejoice,  I  cannot  tell  you  how  sincerely,  in  all  your 
progress.  I  do  not  doubt  in  the  ultimate  return  of  the 
city  to  its  former  populousness  and  wealth,  at  least. 
Aurelian  has  done  well  for  you  at  last.  His  disburse 
ments  for  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  alone  are  vast,  and  must 
be  more  than  equal  to  its  perfect  restoration.  Yet  his 
overthrown  column  you  will  scarce  be  tempted  to  rebuild. 
Forget  not  to  assure  Gracchus  and  Calpurnius  of  my  affec 
tion.  Farewell. 


FROM  FISO  TO   FAUSTA.  47 


LETTER   III. 

FKOM   PISO   TO   FAUSTA. 

CAUSES  OF  ROMAN  CORRUPTION.  —  THE  SPORTS  OF  THE  FLAVIAN. 
AN  IMPERIAL  FEAST.  —  THE  DEMETRII. —  THE  HIGH-PRIEST  OF 
APOLLO.  —  LIVIA.  —  THE  FIRST  CLOUD  IN  THE  HORIZON. 

YOU  are  right,  Fausta,  in  your  unfavourable  judgment  of 
the  Roman  populace.  The  Romans  are  not  a  people 
one  would  select  to  whom  to  propose  a  religion  like  this  of 
Christianity.  All  causes  seem  to  combine  to  injure  and 
corrupt  them.  They  are  too  rich.  The  wealth  of  subject 
kingdoms  and  provinces  finds  its  way  to  Rome ;  and  not 
only  in  the  form  of  tribute  to  the  treasury  of  the  empire, 
but  in  that  of  the  private  fortunes  amassed  by  such  as 
have  held  offices  in  them  for  a  few  years,  and  who  then 
return  to  the  capital  to  dissipate,  in  extravagances  and 
luxuries  unknown  to  other  parts  of  the  world,  the  riches 
wrung  by  violence,  injustice,  and  avarice,  from  the 
wretched  inhabitants  whom  fortune  had  delivered  into 
their  power.  Yes,  the  wealth  of  Rome  is  accumulated  in 
such  masses,  not  through  the  channels  of  industry  or  com 
merce  ;  it  arrives  in  bales  and  ship-loads,  drained  from 
foreign  lands  by  the  hand  of  extortion.  The  palaces  are 
not  to  be  numbered,  built  and  adorned  in  a  manner  sur 
passing  those  of  the  monarchs  of  other  nations,  which  are 
the  private  residences  of  those,  or  of  the  descendants  of 
those,  who  for  a  few  years  have  presided  over  some  distant 
province,  but  in  that  brief  time,  Verres-like,  have  used 
their  opportunities  so  well  as  to  return  home  oppressed 
with  a  wealth  which  life  proves  not  long  enough  to  spend, 
notwithstanding  the  aid  of  dissolute  and  spendthrift  sons. 
Here  have  we  a  single  source  of  evil  equal  to  the  ruin  of 


48  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

any  people.  The  morals  of  no  community  could  be  pro 
tected  against  such  odds.  It  is  a  mountain  torrent  tearing 
its  way  through  the  fields  of  the  husbandman,  whose  trees 
and  plants  possess  no  strength  of  branch  or  root  to  resist 
the  inundation. 

Then,  in  addition  to  all  this,  there  are  the  largesses  of 
the  emperor,  not  only  to  his  armies  but  to  all  the  citizens 
of  Eome ;  which  are  now  so  much  a  matter  of  expectation 
that  rebellions,  I  believe,  would  ensue  were  they  not  be 
stowed.  Aurelian,  before  his  expedition  to  Asia,  promised 
to  every  citizen  a  couple  of  crowns ;  he  has  redeemed  the 
promise  by  the  distribution,  not  of  money,  but  of  bread, 
two  loaves  to  each,  with  the  figure  of  a  crown  stamped 
upon  them.  Besides  this,  there  has  been  an  allowance  of 
meat  and  pork,  —  so  much  to  all  the  lower  orders.  He 
even  contemplated  the  addition  of  wine  to  the  list,  but  was 
hindered  by  the  judicious  suggestion  of  his  friend  and  gen 
eral,  Mucapor,  that  if  he  provided  wine  and  pork,  he 
would  next  be  obliged  to  furnish  them  fowls  also,  or 
public  tumults  might  break  out.  This  recalled  him  to  his 
senses ;  still  however  only  in  part,  for  the  other  grants 
have  not  been  withdrawn.  In  this  manner  is  this  whole 
population  supported  in  idleness.  Labour  is  confined  to  the 
slaves.  The  poor  feed  upon  the  bounties  of  the  emperor 
and  the  wealth  so  abundantly  lavished  by  senators,  no 
bles,  and  the  retired  proconsuls.  Their  sole  employment 
is  to  wait  upon  the  pleasure  of  their  many  masters,  serve 
them,  as  they  are  ready  enough  to  do,  in  the  toils  and 
preparations  of  luxury,  and  what  time  they  are  not  thus 
occupied,  pass  the  remainder  of  their  hours  at  the  theatres, 
at  the  circuses,  at  games  of  a  thousand  kinds,  or  in  noisy 
groups  at  the  corners  of  the  streets  and  in  the  market 
places. 

It  is  become  a  state  necessity  to  provide  amusements  for 
the  populace,  in  order  to  be  safe  against  their  violence. 
The  theatres,  the  baths,  with  their  ample  provisions  for 
passing  away  time  in  some  indolent  amusement  or  active 
game,  are  always  open  and  always  crowded.  Public  or 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  49 

funeral  games  are  also  in  progress  without  intermission  in 
different  parts  of  the  capital.  Those  instituted  in  honour  of 
the  gods,  and  which  make  a  part  of  the  very  religion  of  the 
people,  are  seldom  suspended  for  even  a  day.  At  one  tem 
ple  or  another,  in  this  grove  or  that,  within  or  without  the 
walls,  are  these  lovers  of  pleasure  entertained  by  shows, 
processions,  music,  and  sacrifices.  And  as  if  these  were 
not  enough,  or  when  they  perchance  fail  for  a  moment,  and 
the  sovereign  people  are  listless  and  dull,  the  Flavian  is 
thrown  open  by  the  imperial  command,  the  Vivaria  vomit 
forth  their  maddened  and  howling  tenants  either  to  destroy 
each  other,  or  dye  the  dust  of  the  arena  with  the  blood  of 
gladiators,  criminals,  or  captives.  These  are  the  great  days 
of  the  Eoman  people  ;  these  their  favourite  pleasures.  The 
cry  through  the  streets  in  the  morning,  of  even  women  and 
boys,  "  Fifty  captives  to-day  for  the  lions  in  the  Flavian!" 
together  with  the  more  solemn  announcement  of  the  same 
by  the  public  heralds,  and  by  painted  bills  at  the  corners 
of  the  streets  and  on  the  public  baths,  is  sure  to  throw 
the  city  into  a  fever  of  excitement,  and  rivet  by  a  new 
bond  the  affections  of  this  bloody  people  to  their  indulgent 
emperor. 

Hardly  has  the  floor  of  the  amphitheatre  been  renewed 
since  the  cessation  of  the  triumphal  games  of  Aurelian, 
before  it  is  again  to  be  soaked  with  blood  in  honour  of 
Apollo,  whose  magnificent  temple  is  within  a  few  days  to 
be  dedicated. 

Never  before,  I  believe,  was  there  a  city  whose  inhabi 
tants  so  many  and  so  powerful  causes  conspired  to  corrupt 
and  morally  destroy.  Were  I  to  give  you  a  picture  of  the 
vices  of  Konie,  it  would  be  too  dark  and  foul  a  one  for 
your  eye  to  read,  but  not  darker  or  fouler  than  you  will 
suppose  it  must  necessarily  be  to  agree  with  what  I  have 
already  said.  Where  there  is  so  little  industry  and  so 
much  pleasure  the  vices  will  flourish  and  shoot  up  to  their 
most  gigantic  growth.  Not  in  the  days  of  Nero  were  they 
more  luxuriant  than  now.  Aurelian,  in  the  first  year  of 
his  reign,  laid  upon  them  a  severe  but  useful  restraint,  and 

4 


50  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

they  were  checked  for  a  time.  But  since  he  has  himself 
departed  from  the  simplicity  and  rigour  of  that  early  day, 
and  actually  or  virtually  repealed  the  laws  which  then 
were  promulged  for  the  reformation  of  the  city  in  its  man 
ners,  the  people  have  also  relapsed,  and  the  ancient  ex 
cesses  are  renewed. 

This  certainly  is  not  a  people  who,  in  its  whole  mass, 
will  be  eager  to  receive  the  truths  of  a  religion  like  this  of 
Christianity.  It  will  be  repulsive  to  them.  You  are  right 
in  believing  that  among  the  greater  part  it  will  find  no 
favour.  But  all  are  not  such  as  I  have  described.  There 
are  others  different  in  all  respects,  and  who  stand  waiting 
the  appearance  of  some  principles  of  philosophy  or  religion 
which  shall  be  powerful  enough  to  redeem  their  country 
from  idolatry  and  moral  death,  as  well  as  raise  themselves 
from  darkness  to  light.  Some  of  this  sort  are  to  be  found 
among  the  nobles  and  senators  themselves,  a  few  among 
the  very  dregs  of  the  people,  but  most  among  those  who, 
securing  for  themselves  competence  and  independence  by 
their  own  labour  in  some  of  the  useful  arts,  and  growing 
thoughtful  and  intelligent  with  their  labour,  understand  in 
some  degree,  which  others  do  not,  what  life  is  for,  and 
what  they  are  for,  and  hail  with  joy  truths  which  com 
mend  themselves  to  both  their  reason  and  affections.  It 
is  out  of  these,  the  very  best  blood  of  Rome,  that  our 
Christians  are  made.  They  are,  in  intelligence  and  virtue, 
the  very  bone  and  muscle  of  the  capital,  and  of  our  two 
millions  constitute  no  mean  proportion, —  large  enough  to 
rule  and  control  the  whole,  should  they  ever  choose  to  put 
forth  their  power.  It  is  among  these  that  the  Christian 
preachers  aim  to  spread  their  doctrines ;  and  when  they 
shall  all  or  in  their  greater  part  be  converted  —  as,  judg 
ing  of  the  future  by  the  past  arid  present,  will  happen  in 
no  long  time  —  Rome  will  be  safe  and  the  empire  safe. 
For  it  needs,  I  am  persuaded,  for  Rome  to  be  as  pure  as 
she  is  great,  to  be  eternal  in  her  dominion,  and  then  the 
civilizer  and  saviour  of  the  whole  world.  Oh,  glorious  age  ! 
—  not  remote  —  when  truth  shall  wield  the  sceptre  in 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  51 

Caesar's  seat,  and  subject  nations  of  the  earth  no  longer 
come  up  to  Rome  to  behold  and  copy  her  vices,  but  to 
hear  the  law  and  be  imbued  with  the  doctrine  of  Christ, 
so  bearing  back  to  the  remotest  province  precious  seed, 
there  to  be  planted,  and  spring  up  and  bear  fruit,  filling 
the  earth  with  beauty  and  fragrance ! 

These  things,  Fausta,  in  answer  to  the  questions  at  the 
close  of  your  letter,  which  betray  just  such  an  interest  in 
the  subject  which  engrosses  me  as  it  gives  me  pleasure 
to  witness. 

I  have  before  mentioned  the  completion  of  Aurelian's 
Temple  of  the  Sun,  and  the  proposed  dedication.  This 
august  ceremony  is  appointed  for  to-morrow,  and  this 
evening  we  are  bidden  to  the  gardens  of  Sallust,  where 
is  to  be  all  the  rank  and  beauty  of  Rome.  Oh  that  thou, 
Fausta,  couldst  be  there ! 

I  have  been,  I  have  seen,  I  have  supped,  I  have  re 
turned  ;  and  again  seated  at  my  table  beneath  the  protect 
ing  arm  of  my  chosen  divinity,  I  take  my  pen,  and,  by  a 
few  magic  flourishes  and  marks,  cause  you,  a  thousand 
leagues  away,  to  see  and  hear  what  I  have  seen  and  heard ; 
alas  that  I  cannot  cause  you  to  sup  as  I  did  also !  But  this 
is  beyond  the  power  of  the  pen. 

Accompanied  by  Portia  and  Julia,  I  was  within  the 
palace  of  the  emperor  early  enough  to  enjoy  the  company 
of  Aurelian  and  Livia  before  the  rest  of  the  world  was 
there.  We  were  carried  to  the  more  private  apartments  of 
the  empress,  where  it  is  her  custom  to  receive  those  whose 
friendship  she  values  most  highly.  They  are  in  that  part 
of  the  palace  which  has  undergone  no  alterations  since  it 
was  the  residence  of  the  great  historian,  but  shines  in  all 
the  lustre  of  a  taste  and  an  art  that  adorned  a  more  accom 
plished  age  than  our  own.  Especially,  it  seems  to  me,  in 
the  graceful  disposition  of  the  interiors  of  their  palaces, 
and  the  combined  richness  and  appropriateness  of  the  art 
lavished  upon  them,  did  the  genius  of  the  days  of  Hadrian 
and  Vespasian  surpass  our  own.  Not  that  I  defend  all 


52  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

that  that  genius  adopted  and  immortalized.  It  was  not 
seldom  licentious  and  gross  in  its  conceptions,  however  un 
rivalled  in  the  art  and  science  by  which  they  were  made  to 
glow  upon  the  walls,  or  actually  speak  and  move  in  marble 
or  brass.  In  the  favourite  apartment  of  Livia,  into  which 
we  were  now  admitted,  perfect  in  its  forms  and  propor 
tions,  the  walls  and  ceilings  are  covered  with  the  story  of 
Leda,  wrought  with  an  effect  of  drawing  and  colour  of 
which  the  present  times  afford  no  example.  The  well- 
known  Greek,  Polymnestes,  was  the  artist.  And  this 
room,  in  all  its  embellishments,  is  chaste  and  cold  com 
pared  with  others,  whose  subjects  were  furnished  to  the 
painter  by  the  profligate  master  himself. 

The  room  of  Leda,  as  it  is  termed,  is — but  how  beauti 
ful  it  is,  I  cannot  tell.  Words  paint  poorly  to  the  eye. 
Believe  it  not  less  beautiful,  nor  less  exquisitely  adorned 
with  all  that  woman  loves  most  —  hangings,  carpets,  and 
couches — than  any  in  the  palace  of  Gracchus  or  Zenobia. 
It  was  here  we  found  Aurelian  and  Livia,  and  his  niece 
Aurelia.  The  emperor,  habited  in  silken  robes,  richly 
wrought  with  gold,  the  inseparable  sword  at  his  side,  from 
which,  at  the  expense  of  whatever  incongruity,  he  never 
parts,  advanced  to  the  door  to  receive  us,  saying, — 

"  I  am  happy  that  the  mildness  of  this  autumn  day 
permits  this  pleasure,  —  to  see  the  mother  of  the  Pisos 
beneath  my  roof.  It  is  rare  nowadays  that  Borne  sees  her 
abroad. " 

"  Save  to  the  palace  of  Aurelian, "  replied  my  mother, 
"  I  now,  as  is  well  known,  never  move  beyond  the  pre 
cincts  of  my  own  dwelling.  Since  the  captivity  and  death 
of  your  former  companion  in  arms,  my  great  husband, 
Cneius  Piso,  the  widow's  hearth  has  been  my  hall  of  state, 
these  widow 's-weeds  my  only  robes.  But  it  must  be  more 
than  private  grief,  and  more  than  the  storms  of  autumn  or 
of  winter,  that  would  keep  me  back  when  it  is  Aurelian 
who  bids  to  the  feast.  " 

"  We  owe  you  many  thanks, "  replied  the  emperor. 
"  Would  that  the  loyalty  of  the  parents  were  inherited  by 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  53 

the  children, "-—casting  towards  me,  as  he  saluted  me  at 
the  same  time,  a  look  which  seemed  to  say  that  he  was 
partly  serious,  if  partly  in  jest.  After  mutual  inquiries 
and  salutations,  we  were  soon  seated  upon  couches,  be 
neath  a  blaze  of  light,  which  from  the  centre  of  the  apart 
ment  darted  its  brightness,  as  it  had  been  the  sun  itself, 
to  every  part  of  the  room. 

"  It  is  no  light  sorrow  to  a  mother's  heart, "  said  Portia, 
"  to  know  that  her  two  sons,  and  her  only  sons,  are,  one 
the  open  enemy  of  his  country,  the  other  —  what  shall  I 
term  you,  Lucius  ?  —  an  innovator  upon  her  ancient  in 
stitutions  ;  and  while  he  believes  and  calls  himself,  sin 
cerely,  I  doubt  not,  the  friend  of  his  country,  is  in  truth, 
as  every  good  Roman  would  say  —  not  an  enemy,  my  son,  I 
cannot  use  that  word,  but  as  it  were  —  an  unconscious  in- 
jurer.  Would  that  the  conqueror  of  the  world  had  power 
to  conquer  this  boy's  will !  " 

"  Aurelian,  mother, "  I  replied,  "  did  he  possess  the 
power,  would  hesitate  to  use  it  in  such  a  cause.  But 
it  is  easy  to  see  that  it  would  demand  infinitely  more 
power  to  change  one  honest  mind  than  to  subdue  even  tue 
world  by  the  sword.  " 

Aurelian  for  a  brief  moment  looked  as  if  he  had  received 
a  personal  affront. 

"  How  say  you  ?  "  said  he ;  "  demands  it  more  power  to 
change  one  mind  than  to  conquer  a  world  ?  Methinks  it 
might  be  done  with  something  less.  My  soldiers  often 
maintain  with  violence  a  certain  opinion ;  but  I  find  it  not 
difficult  to  cause  them  to  let  it  go,  and  take  mine  in  its 
place.  The  arguments  I  use  never  fail. " 

"  That  may  be, "  I  replied,  "  in  matters  of  little  moment. 
Even  in  these,  however,  is  it  not  plain,  Aurelian,  that  you 
cause  them  not  to  let  go  their  opinion,  but  merely  to  sup 
press  it,  or  affect  to  change  it  ?  Your  power  may  compel 
them  either  to  silence,  or  to  an  assertion  of  the  very  con 
trary  of  what  they  but  just  before  had  declared  as  their 
belief;  but  it  cannot  alter  their  minds.  That  is  to  be 
done  by  reason  only,  not  by  force. " 


54  LETTERS  EROM  ROME. 

"  By  reason,  first, "  answered  the  emperor ;  "  but  if  that 
fail,  then  by  force.  The  ignorant,  and  the  presumptuous, 
and  the  mischievous,  must  be  dealt  with  as  we  deal  with 
children.  If  we  argue  with  them  it  is  a  favour.  It  is  our 
right,  as  it  is  better,  to  command  and  compel.  " 

"  Only  establish  it  that  such  and  such  are  ignorant,  and 
erroneous,  and  presumptuous,  and  I  allow  that  it  would  be 
right  to  silence  them.  But  that  is  the  very  difficulty  in 
the  case.  How  are  we  to  know  that  they  who  think  dif 
ferently  from  ourselves  are  ignorant  or  erroneous  ?  Surely 
the  fact  of  the  difference  is  not  satisfactory  proof. " 

"  They,"  rejoined  Aurelian,  "  who  depart  from  a  certain 
standard  in  art  are  said  to  err.  The  thing  in  this  case  is 
of  no  consequence  to  any,  therefore  no  punishment  ensues. 
So  there  is  a  standard  of  religion  in  the  state,  and  they 
who  depart  from  it  may  be  said  to  err.  But  as  religion  is 
essential  to  the  state,  they  who  err  should  be  brought  back, 
by  whatever  application  of  force,  and  compelled  to  conform 
to  the  standard. " 

"  In  what  sense, "  said  Portia,  "  can  common  and  ignorant 
people  be  regarded  as  fit  judges  of  what  constitutes  or  does 
not  constitute  a  true  religion  ?  It  is  a  subject  level  scarce 
to  philosophers.  If  indeed  the  gods  should  vouchsafe  to 
descend  to  earth  and  converse  with  men,  and  in  that  man 
ner  teach  some  new  truth,  then,  any  one  possessed  of  eyes 
and  ears  might  receive  it,  and  retain  it  without  presump 
tion.  Nay,  he  could  not  but  do  so ;  but  not  otherwise.  " 

"  Now  have  you  stated,"  said  I,  "  that  which  constitutes 
the  precise  case  of  Christianity.  They  who  received  Chris 
tianity  in  the  first  instance,  did  it  riot  by  balancing  against 
each  other  such  refined  arguments  as  philosophers  use. 
They  were  simply  judges  of  matters  of  fact, —  of  what  their 
eyes  beheld  and  their  ears  heard.  God  did  vouchsafe  to 
descend  to  earth,  and  by  his  messenger  converse  with  men, 
and  teach  new  truth.  All  that  men  had  then  to  do  was 
this,  to  see  whether  the  evidence  was  sufficient  that  it 
was  a  God  speaking ;  and  that  being  made  plain,  to  listen 
and  record.  And  at  this  day,  all  that  is  to  be  done  is  to 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  55 

inquire  whether  the  record  be  true.  If  the  record  be  a  well- 
authenticated  one  of  what  the  mouth  of  God  spoke,  it  is 
then  adopted  as  the  code  of  religious  truth.  As  for  what 
the  word  contains,  it  requires  no  acute  intellect  to  judge 
concerning  it;  a  child  may  understand  it  all." 

"  Truly, "  replied  Portia,  "  this  agrees  but  ill  with  what 
I  have  heard  and  believed  concerning  Christianity.  It  has 
ever  been  set  forth  as  a  thing  full  of  darkness  and  mystery, 
which  it  requires  the  most  vigorous  powers  to  penetrate  and 
comprehend. " 

"  So  has  it  been  ever  presented  to  me, "  added  the  em 
peror.  "  I  have  conceived  it  to  be  but  some  new  form  of 
Plato's  dreams,  neither  more  clear  in  itself,  nor  promising 
to  be  of  more  use  to  mankind.  So,  if  I  err  not,  the  learned 
Porphyrus  has  stated  it.  " 

"  A  good  fact, "  here  interposed  Julia,  "  is  worth  more  in 
this  argument  than  the  learning  of  the  most  learned.  Is 
it  not  sufficient  proof,  Aurelian,  that  Christianity  is  some 
what  sufficiently  plain  and  easy,  that  women  are  able  to 
receive  it  so  readily  ?  Take  me  as  an  unanswerable  argu 
ment  on  the  side  of  Piso.  " 

"  The  women  of  Palmyra, "  replied  the  emperor,  "  as  I 
have  good  reason  to  know,  are  more  than  the  men  of  other 
climes.  She  who  reads  Plato  and  the  last  essays  of  Plo- 
tinus,  of  a  morning,  seated  idly  beneath  the  shadow  of 
some  spreading  beech,  just  as  a  Roman  girl  would  the  last 
child's  story  of  Spurius  about  Father  Tiber  and  the  Milvian 
Bridge,  is  not  to  be  received  in  this  question  as  but  a 
woman,  with  a  woman's  powers  of  judgment.  When  the 
women  of  Home  receive  their  faith  as  easily  as  you  do, 
then  may  it  be  held  as  an  argument  for  its  simplicity. 
But  let  us  now  break  off  the  thread  of  this  discourse,  too 
severe  for  the  occasion,  and  mingle  with  our  other  friends, 
who  by  this  must  be  arrived.  " 

So  with  these  words  we  left  the  apartment  where  we  had 
been  sitting,  the  emperor  having  upon  one  side  Portia,  and 
on  the  other  Livia,  and  moved  towards  the  great  central 
rooms  of  the  palace,  where  guests  are  entertained,  and  the 
imperial  banquets  held. 


56  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

The  company  was  not  numerous ;  it  was  rather  remark 
able  for  its  selectness.  Among  others  not  less  distin 
guished  there  were  the  venerable  Tacitus,  the  consul 
Capitolinus,  Marcellinus  the  senator,  the  prefect  Varus, 
the  priest  Fronto,  the  generals  Probus  and  Mucapor,  and 
a  few  other  of  the  military  favourites  of  Aurelian. 

Of  the  conversation  at  supper  I  remember  little  or 
nothing,  only  that  it  was  free  and  light,  each  seeming 
to  enjoy  himself  and  the  companion  who  reclined  next  to 
him.  Aurelian,  with  a  condescending  grace  which  no  one 
knows  better  how  to  assume  than  he,  urged  the  wine  upon 
his  friends,  as  they  appeared  occasionally  to  forget  it,  of 
fering  frequently  some  new  and  unheard-of  kind,  brought 
from  Asia,  Greece,  or  Africa,  and  which  he  would  exalt  to 
the  skies  for  its  flavour.  More  than  once  did  he,  as  he  is 
wont  to  do  in  his  sportive  mood,  deceive  us ;  for  calling 
upon  us  to  fill  our  goblets  with  what  he  described  as  a 
liquor  surpassing  all  of  Italy,  and  which  might  serve  for 
Hebe  to  pour  out  for  the  gods,  and  requiring  us  to  drink  it 
off  in  honor  of  Bacchus,  Pan,  or  Ceres,  we  found  upon  lift 
ing  our  cups  to  drain  them,  that  they  had  been  charged 
with  some  coloured  and  perfumed  medicament  more  sour  or 
bitter  than  the  worst  compound  of  the  apothecary,  or  than 
massican  overheated  in  the  vats.  These  sallies,  coming 
from  the  master  of  the  world,  were  sure  to  be  well  re 
ceived, —  his  satellites,  of  whom  not  a  few  were  near  him, 
being  ready  to  die  with  excess  of  laughter ;  the  attendant 
slaves  catching  the  jest,  and  enjoying  it  with  noisy  vo 
ciferation.  I  laughed  with  the  rest,  for  it  seems  wise  to 
propitiate,  by  an  act  not  absolutely  base,  one  whose  ambi 
tious  and  cruel  nature,  unless  soothed  and  appeased  by  such 
offerings,  is  so  prone  to  reveal  itself  in  deeds  of  darkness. 

When  the  feast  was  nearly  ended,  and  the  attending 
slaves  were  employed  in  loading  it  for  the  last  time  with 
fruits,  olives,  and  confections,  a  troop  of  eunuchs,  richly 
habited,  entered  the  'apartment  to  the  sound  of  flutes  and 
horns,  bearing  upon  a  platter  of  gold  an  immense  bowl  or 
vase  of  the  same  metal,  filled  to  the  brim  with  wine, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  57 

which  they  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  table,  and  then,  at 
the  command  of  the  emperor,  with  a  ladle  of  the  same  pre 
cious  material  and  ornamented  with  gems,  served  out  the 
wine  to  the  company.  At  first,  as  the  glittering  pageant 
advanced,  astonishment  kept  us  mute,  and  caused  us  invol 
untarily  to  rise  from  our  couches  to  watch  the  ceremony  of 
introducing  it,  and  fixing  it  in  its  appointed  place.  For 
never  before  in  Eome  had  there  been  seen,  I  am  sure,  a 
golden  vessel  of  such  size,  or  wrought  with  art  so  marvel 
lous.  The  language  of  wonder  and  pleasure  was  heard  on 
every  side,  from  every  mouth.  Even  Livia  and  Julia,  who 
in  Palmyra  had  been  used  to  the  goblets  and  wine-cups  of 
the  Eastern  Demetrius,  showed  amazement  not  less  than 
the  others  at  a  magnificence  and  a  beauty  that  surpassed 
all  experience  and  all  conception.  Just  above  where  the 
bowl  was  placed  hung  the  principal  light,  by  which  the 
table  and  the  apartment  were  illuminated,  which  falling  in 
floods  upon  the  wrought  or  polished  gold  and  the  thickly 
strewed  diamonds,  caused  it  to  blaze  with  a  splendour 
which  the  eyes  could  hardly  bear,  and,  till  accustomed  to  it 
by  gazing,  prevented  us  from  minutely  examining  the 
sculptures  which,  with  lavish  profusion  and  consummate 
art,  glowed  and  burned  upon  the  pedestal,  the  swelling 
sides,  the  rirn  and  handles  of  the  vase,  and  covered  the 
broad  and  golden  plain  upon  which  it  stood.  I  happily 
was  near  it,  being  seated  opposite  Aurelian,  and  on  the 
inner  side  of  the  table,  which,  as  the  custom  now  is,  was 
of  the  form  of  a  bent  bow,  so  that  I  could  study  at  my 
leisure  the  histories  and  fables  that  were  wrought  over  its 
whole  surface.  Julia  and  Livia,  being  also  near  it  on  the 
other  side  of  the  table,  were  in  the  same  manner  wholly 
absorbed  in  the  same  agreeable  task. 

Livia,  being  quite  carried  out  of  herself  by  this  sudden 
and  unexpected  splendour,  —  having  evidently  no  knowledge 
of  its  approach,  - —  like  a  girl  as  she  still  is  in  her  natural, 
unpremeditated  movements,  rose  from  her  couch  and  ea 
gerly  bent  forward  towards  the  vase,  the  better  to  scan  its 
beauties,  saying,  as  she  did  so, — 


58  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

"  The  emperor  must  himself  stand  answerable  for  all 
breaches  of  order  under  circumstances  like  these.  Good 
friends,  let  all  who  will,  freely  approach,  and  leaving  for 
a  moment  that  of  Bacchus,  drink  at  the  fountain  of 
Beauty. "  Whereupon,  all  who  were  so  disposed  gath 
ered  round  the  centre  of  the  table. 

"  This, "  said  Varus,  "  both  for  size  and  the  perfect  art 
lavished  upon  it,  surpasses  the  glories  fabled  of  the  buckler 
of  Minerva,  whose  fame  has  reached  us. " 

"  You  say  right ;  it  does  so, "  said  the  emperor.  "  That 
dish  of  Vitellius  was  inferior  in  workmanship,  as  it  was 
less  in  weight  and  size  than  this,  which,  before  you  all,  I 
here  name  'The  Cup  of  Livia. '  Let  us  fill  again  from  it 
and  drink  to  the  empress  of  all  the  world. " 

All  sprang  in  eager  haste  to  comply  with  a  command 
that  carried  with  it  its  own  enforcement. 

"  Whatever, "  continued  the  emperor,  when  our  cups  had 
been  drained,  "  may  have  been  the  condition  of  art  in 
other  branches  of  it  in  the  time  of  that  emperor,  there 
was  no  one  then  whose  power  over  the  metals,  or  whose 
knowledge  of  forms  was  comparable  with  that  of  our  own 
Demetrius ;  for  this,  be  it  known,  is  the  sole  work  of  the 
Roman  —  and  yet,  to  speak  more  truly,  it  must  be  said  the 
Greek  —  Demetrius,  aided  by  his  brother  from  the  East, 
who  is  now  with  him.  Let  the  music  cease ;  we  need  that 
disturbance  no  more ;  and  call  in  the  brothers  Demetrius. 
These  are  men  who  honour  any  age  and  any  presence.  " 

The  brothers  soon  entered ;  and  never  were  princes  or 
ambassadors  greeted  with  higher  honour.  All  seemed  to 
contend  which  should  say  the  most  flattering  and  agreeable 
thing.  "  Slaves, "  cried  the  emperor,  "  a  couch  and  cups 
for  the  Demetrii. " 

The  brothers  received  all  this  courtesy  with  the  native 
ease  and  dignity  which  ever  accompany  true  genius. 
There  was  no  offensive  boldness  nor  presuming  vanity, 
but  neither  was  there  any  shrinking  cowardice  nor  timid 
ity.  They  felt  that  they  were  men  not  less  distinguished 
by  the  gods  than  many  or  most  of  those  in  whose  presence 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  59 

they  were,  and  they  were  sufficient  to  themselves.  The 
Itoman  Demetrius  resembles  much  his  brother  of  Palmyra, 
but  in  both  form  and  countenance  possesses  beauty  of  a 
higher  order.  His  look  is  contemplative  and  inward ;  his 
countenance  pale  and  yet  dark ;  his  features  even  and  ex 
actly-shaped,  like  a  statue ;  his  hair  short  and  black ;  his 
dress,  as  was  that  of  him  of  Palmyra,  of  the  richest  stuffs, 
and  showing  that  wealth  had  become  their  reward  as  well 
as  fame. 

"  Let  us, "  cried  the  emperor,  "  in  full  cups  drawn  from 
the  Livian  fount,  do  honour  to  ourselves  and  the  arts,  by 
drinking  to  the  health  of  Demetrius  of  Palmyra  and  Deme 
trius  of  Kome.  "  Every  cup  was  filled  and  drained.  "  We 
owe  you  thanks, "  then  added  Aureliau,  "  that  you  have 
completed  this  great  work  at  the  time  promised,  though  I 
fear  it  has  been  to  your  own  cost,  for  the  paleness  of  your 
cheeks  speaks  not  of  health.  " 

"  The  work, "  replied  the  Pioman  Demetrius,  "  could  not 
have  been  completed  but  for  the  timely  and  effectual  aid  of 
my  Eastern  brother,  to  whose  learned  hand,  quicker  in  its 
execution  than  my  own,  you  are  indebted  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  sculptures  upon  both  the  bowl  and  dish. " 

"  It  is  true,  noble  emperor, "  said  the  impetuous  brother, 
"  my  hand  is  the  quicker  of  the  two,  and  in  some  parts  of 
this  work,  especially  in  whatever  pertains  to  the  East,  and 
to  the  forms  of  building,  or  of  vegetation,  or  costume  seen 
chiefly  or  only  there,  my  knowledge  was  perhaps  more 
exact  and  minute  than  his ;  but  let  it  be  received  that 
the  head  that  could  design  these  forms  and  conceive  and 
arrange  these  histories,  and  these  graceful  ornaments,  to  my 
mind  more  fruitful  of  genius  than  all  else — observe  you 
them  ?  have  you  scanned  them  all  ?  —  belongs  to  no  other 
tllan  Demetrius  of  Borne.  In  my  whole  hand  there  resides 
not  the  skill  that  is  lodged  in  one  of  his  fingers,  nor  in  my 
whole  head  the  power  that  lies  behind  one  of  his  eyes. " 

The  enthusiasm  of  the  eastern  brother  called  up  a  smile 
upon  the  faces  of  all,  and  a  blush  upon  the  white  cheek  of 
the  Eoman. 


60  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  My  brother  is  younger  than  I, "  he  said,  "  and  his 
blood  runs  quicker.  All  that  he  says,  though  it  be  a  pic 
ture  of  the  truest  heart  ever  lodged  in  man,  is  yet  to  be 
taken  with  abatement.  But  for  him  this  work  would 
have  been  far  below  its  present  merit.  Let  me  ask  you 
especially  to  mark  the  broad  border  where  is  set  forth  the 
late  triumph,  and  ambassadors,  captives,  and  animals  of 
all  parts  of  the  earth,  especially  of  the  East,  are  seen  in 
their  appropriate  forms  and  habits.  That  is  all  from  the 
chisel  of  my  brother.  Behold  here,"  and  rising  he  ap 
proached  the  vase,  and  vast  as  it  was,  by  a  touch,  so  was 
it  constructed,  turned  it  round,  "  behold  here,  where  is 
figured  the  Queen  of  — "  in  the  enthusiasm  of  art  he  had 
forgotten  for  a  moment  to  whom  he  was  speaking ;  for  at 
that  instant  his  eye  fell  upon  the  countenance  of  Julia, 
who  stood  near  him,  and  which  he  saw  cast  down  by  an 
uncontrollable  grief.  He  paused,  confused  and  grieved, 
saying,  as  he  turned  back  the  vase,  "  Ah  me  !  cruel  and 
indiscreet !  Pardon  me,  noble  ladies ;  and  yet  I  deserve 
it  not." 

"  Go  on,  go  on,  Demetrius, "  said  Julia,  assuming  a 
cheerful  air.  "  You  offend  me  not.  The  course  of  empire 
must  have  its  way ;  individuals  are  but  emmets  in  the 
path.  I  am  now  used  to  this,  believe  me.  It  is  for  you 
rather,  and  the  rest  to  forgive  in  me  a  sudden  weakness. " 

Demetrius,  thus  commanded,  resumed,  and  then  with 
minuteness,  with  much  learning  and  eloquence,  discoursed 
successively  upon  the  histories  or  emblematic  devices  of 
this  the  chief  work  of  his  hands.  All  were  sorry  when  he 
ceased. 

"  To  what  you  have  overlooked, "  said  Aurelian,  as  he 
paused,  "  must  I  call  you  back,  seeing  it  is  that  part  of  the 
work  which  I  most  esteem,  and  in  which  at  this  moment  I 
and  all,  I  trust,  are  most  interested, —  the  sculptures  upon 
the  platter ;  and  which  represent  the  new  temple  and  cere 
monies  of  the  dedication  which  to-morrow  we  celebrate. " 

"  Of  this, "  replied  Demetrius,  "  I  said  less,  because  per 
haps  the  work  is  inferior,  having  been  committed,  our  time 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  61 

being  short,  to  the  hands  of  a  pupil,  — a  pupil,  however,  I 
beg  to  say,  who,  if  the  Divine  Providence  spare  him,  will 
one  day,  and  that  not  a  remote  one,  cast  a  shadow  upon 
his  teachers. " 

"  That  will  he, "  said  the  brother ;  "  Flaccus  is  full  of 
the  truest  inspiration.  " 

"  But  to  the  dedication,  the  dedication  !  "  interrupted  the 
hoarse  voice  of  Fronto. 

Demetrius  started  and  shrank  backward  a  step  at  that 
sound;  but  instantly  recovered  himself  and  read  into  an 
intelligible  language  many  of  the  otherwise  obscure  and 
learned  details  of  the  sculpture.  As  he  ended,  the  em 
peror  said, — 

"  We  thank  you,  Demetrius,  for  your  learned  lecture, 
which  has  given  a  new  value  to  your  work.  And  now, 
while  it  is  in  my  mind,  let  me  bespeak,  as  soon  as  leisure 
and  inclination  shall  serve,  a  silver  statue,  gilded,  of  Apollo 
for  the  great  altar,  which  to-morrow  will  scarce  be  graced 
with  such  a  one  as  will  agree  with  the  temple  and  its  other 
ornaments.  " 

Demetrius,  as  this  was  uttered,  again  started,  and  his 
countenance  became  of  a  deadly  paleness.  He  hesitated  a 
moment,  as  if  studying  how  to  order  his  words  so  as  to 
express  least  offensively  an  offensive  truth.  On  the  in 
stant  I  suspected  what  the  truth  was ;  but  I  was  wholly 
unprepared  for  it.  I  had  received  no  intimation  of  such 
a  thing. 

"  Great  emperor, "  he  began,  "  I  am  sorry  to  say,  and  yet 
not  sorry,  that  I  cannot  now  as  once  labour  for  the  decora 
tion  of  the  temples  and  their  worship.  I  am  — 

"  Ye  gods  of  Rome !  "  cried  Fronto. 

"  Peace, "  said  the  emperor,  "  let  him  be  heard.  How 
say  you  ?  " 

"  I  am  now  a  Christian,  and  I  hold  it  not  lawful  to  be 
stow  my  power  and  skill  in  the  workmanship  of  gods  in 
whom  I  believe  not,  and  thus  become  the  instrument  of 
an  erroneous  faith  in  others. " 

This  was  uttered  firmly,  but  with  modesty.      The  coun- 


62  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

tenance  of  the  emperor  was  overclouded  for  a  moment, 
But  it  partially  cleared  up  again  as  he  said, — 

"  I  lay  not,  Demetrius,  the  least  constraint  upon  you. 
The  four  years  that  I  have  held  this  power  in  Borne  have 
been  years  of  freedom  to  my  people  in  this  respect. 
Whether  I  have  done  well  in  that  for  our  city  and  the 
empire,  many  would  doubt.  I  almost  doubt  myself.  " 

"  That  would  they,  by  Hercules !  "  said  the  soft  voice  of 
Varus,  just  at  my  ear,  and  intended  chiefly  for  me. 

"  My  brother, "  said  Demetrius,  "  will  be  happy  to  exe 
cute  for  the  emperor  the  work  which  he  has  been  pleased 
to  ask  of  me.  He  remains  steadfast  in  the  faith  in  which 
he  was  reared,  — the  popular  faith  of  Athens.  " 

"  Apollo, "  said  Demetrius  of  Palmyra,  "  is  my  especial 
favourite  among  all  the  gods,  and  of  him  I  have  wrought 
more  statues  in  silver,  gold,  or  ivory,  or  of  these  variously 
and  curiously  combined,  than  of  all  the  others.  If  I 
should  be  honoured  in  this  labour,  I  should  request  to 
adopt  the  marble  image  now  standing  in  the  baths  of 
Caracalla,  and  once,  it  is  said,  the  chief  wonder  of  Otho's 
palace  of  wonders,  as  a  model  after  which,  with  some  de 
viations,  to  mould  it.  I  think  I  could  make  that  that 
should  satisfy  Aurelian  and  Rome.  " 

"  Do  it,  do  it !  "  said  the  emperor ;  "  and  let  it  be  seen 
that  the  worshipper  of  his  country's  gods  is  not  behind 
him  who  denies  them,  in  his  power  to  do  them  honour.  " 

"  I  shall  not  sleep, "  said  the  enthusiastic  artist,  "  till  I 
have  made  a  model  in  wax  at  least  of  what  at  this  moment 
presents  itself  to  my  imagination.  "  Saying  which,  with 
little  ceremony,  as  if  the  empire  depended  upon  his  reach 
ing  on  the  instant  his  chalk  and  wax,  and  to  the  infinite 
amusement  of  the  company,  he  rose  and  darted  from  the 
apartment,  the  slaves  making  way  as  for  a  missile  that  it 
might  be  dangerous  to  obstruct. 

"  But  in  what  way, "  said  Aurelian,  turning  to  the  elder 
Demetrius,  "  have  you  been  wrought  upon  to  abandon  the 
time-honoured  religion  of  Eome  ?  Methinks  the  whole 
world  is  becoming  of  this  persuasion.  " 


FROM   PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  63 

"  If  I  may  speak  freely  — 

"  With  utmost  freedom, "  said  Aurelian. 

"  I  may  then  say  that  ever  since  the  power  to  reflect 
upon  matters  so  deep  and  high  had  been  mine,  I  had 
doubted  first  the  truth  of  the  popular  religion,  and  then 
soon  rejected  it,  as  what  brought  to  me  neither  comfort 
nor  hope,  and  was  burdened  with  things  essentially  in 
credible  and  monstrous.  For  many  years,  many  weary 
years  —  for  the  mind  demands  something  positive  in  this 
quarter,  it  cannot  remain  in  suspense  and  vacant  —  I  was 
without  belief.  Why  it  was  so  long  before  I  turned  to  the 
Christians  I  know  not,  unless  because  of  the  reports  which 
were  so  common  to  their  disadvantage,  and  the  danger 
which  has  so  often  attended  a  profession  of  their  faith. 
At  length,  in  a  fortunate  hour,  there  fell  into  my  hands 
the  sacred  books  of  the  Christians,  and  I  needed  little  be 
sides  to  show  me  that  theirs  is  a  true  and  almighty  faith, 
and  that  all  that  is  current  in  the  city  to  its  dishonour 
is  false  and  caluminous.  I  am  now  happy,  not  only  as  an 
artist  and  a  Roman,  but  as  a  man  and  an  immortal.  " 

"  You  speak  earnestly, "  said  Aurelian. 

"  I  feel  so, "  replied  Demetrius,  a  generous  glow  lighting 
up  his  pale  countenance. 

"  Would, "  rejoined  the  emperor,  "  that  some  of  the  zeal 
of  these  Christians  might  be  infused  into  the  sluggish 
spirits  of  our  own  people.  The  ancient  faith  suffers 
through  neglect,  and  the  prevailing  impiety  of  those  who 
are  its  disciples.  " 

"  May  it  not  rather  be, "  said  Fronto,  "  that  the  ancient 
religion  of  the  state,  having  so  long  been  neglected  by 
those  who  are  its  appointed  guardians,  to  the  extent  that 
even  Judaism,  and  now  Christianity,  which  are  but  dis 
guised  forms  of  atheism,  have  been  allowed  to  insinuate 
and  intrench  themselves  in  the  empire,  the  gods  now  in 
anger  turn  away  from  us,  who  have  been  so  unfaithful  to 
ourselves,  and  thus  this  plausible  impiety  is  permitted  to 
commit  its  havocs  ?  I  believe  the  gods  are  ever  faithful 
to  the  faithful." 


64  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  What  good  citizen,  too, "  added  Yarns,  "  but  must 
lament  to  witness  the  undermining  and  supplanting  of 
those  venerable  forms  under  which  this  universal  empire 
has  grown  to  its  present  height  of  power  ?  He  is  scarcely 
a  Roman  who  denies  the  gods  of  Eome,  however  observant 
he  may  be  of  her  laws  and  other  institutions.  Eeligion  is 
her  greatest  law. " 

"  These  are  hard  questions, "  said  the  emperor.  "  For 
know  you  not  that  some  of  her  noblest,  and  fairest,  and 
most  beloved,  have  written  themselves  followers  of  this 
Galilean  God  ?  How  can  we  deal  sharply  with  a  people  at 
whose  head  stands  the  head  of  the  noble  house  of  the 
Pisos,  and  a  princess  of  the  blood  of  Palmyra  ?  " 

Although  Aurelian  uttered  these  words  in  a  manner 
almost  sportive  to  the  careless  ear,  yet  I  confess  myself  to 
have  discovered  at  the  moment  an  inward  expression  of  the 
countenance,  and  a  tone  in  the  voice,  which  for  the  time 
gave  me  uneasiness.  I  was  about  to  speak,  when  the  ven 
erable  Tacitus  addressed  the  emperor,  and  said, — 

"  I  can  never  think  it  wise  to  interfere  with  violence  in 
the  matter  of  men's  worship.  It  is  impossible,  I  believe, 
to  compel  mankind  to  receive  any  one  institution  of  re 
ligion,  because  different  tribes  of  men,  different  by  nature 
and  by  education,  will  and  do  demand,  not  the  same,  but 
different  forms  of  belief  and  worship.  Why  should  they 
be  alike  in  this,  while  they  separate  so  wide]y  in  other 
matters  ?  and  can  it  be  a  more  hopful  enterprise  to  oblige 
them  to  submit  to  the  same  rules  in  their  religion,  than  it 
would  be  to  compel  them  to  feed  on  the  same  food,  and  use 
the  same  forms  of  language  or  dress  ?  I  know  that  former 
emperors  have  thought  and  acted  differently.  They  have 
deemed  it  a  possible  thing  to  restore  the  ancient  unity  of 
worship,  by  punishing  with  severity,  by  destroying  the 
lives  even  of  such  as  should  dare  to  think  for  themselves. 
But  their  conduct  is  not  to  be  defended,  either  as  right  in 
itself  or  best  for  the  state.  It  has  not  been  true  as  policy. 
For  is  it  not  evident  how  oppression  of  those  who  believe 
themselves  to  be  possessed  of  truth  important  to  mankind 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  65 

serves  but  to  bind  them  the  more  closely  to  their  opin 
ions  ?  Are  they,  for  a  little  suffering,  to  show  themselves 
such  cowards  as  to  desert  their  own  convictions,  and  prove 
false  to  the  interests  of  multitudes  ?  Kather,  say  they, 
let  us  rejoice  in  such  a  cause  to  bear  reproach.  This  is 
the  language  of  our  nature.  Nay,  such  persons  come  to 
prize  suffering,  to  make  it  a  matter  of  pride  and  boasting. 
Their  rank  among  themselves  is  by  and  by  determined  by 
the  readiness  with  which  they  offer  themselves  as  sacrifices 
for  truth  and  God.  Are  such  persons  to  be  deterred  by 
threats,  or  the  actual  infliction  of  punishment  ? " 

"  The  error  has  been, "  here  said  the  evil-boding  Fronto, 
"  that  the  infliction  of  punishment  went  not  to  the  extent 
that  is  indispensable  to  the  success  of  such  a  work.  The 
noble  Piso  will  excuse  me ;  we  are  but  dealing  with  ab 
stractions.  Oppress  those  who  are  in  error  only  to  a  cer 
tain  degree,  not  extreme,  and  it  is  most  true  they  cling  the 
closer  to  their  error.  We  see  this  in  the  punishment  of 
children.  Their  obstinacy  and  pride  are  increased  by  a 
suffering  which  is  slight  and  which  seems  to  say,  'I  am  too 
timid,  weak,  or  loving,  to  inflict  more. '  So,  too,  with 
our  slaves.  Whose  slaves  ever  rose  a  second  time  against 
the  master's  authority,  whose  first  offence,  however  slight, 
was  met,  not  by  words  or  lashes,  but  by  racks  and  the 
cross  ?  " 

"  Nay,  good  Fronto,  hold ;  your  zeal  for  the  gods  bears 
you  away  beyond  the  bounds  of  courtesy. " 

"  Forgive  me,  then,  great  sovereign,  and  you  who  are 
here  —  if  you  may ;  but  neither  time  nor  place  shall  deter 
me,  a  minister  of  the  great  god  of  light,  from  asserting  the 
principles  upon  which  his  worship  rests,  and  as  I  deem,  the 
empire  itself.  Under  Decius,  had  true  Eomans  sat  on 
the  tribunals ;  had  no  hearts  too  soft  for  such  offices  turned 
traitors  to  the  head ;  had  no  accursed  spirit  of  avarice  re 
ceived  the  bribes  which  procured  security  to  individuals, 
families,  and  communities ;  had  there  been  no  commuta 
tions  of  punishment,  then  — 

"  Peace,  I  say,   Fronto ;  thou  marrest  the  spirit  of  the 

5 


66  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

hour.  How  came  we  thus  again  to  this  point?  Such 
questions  are  for  the  council-room  or  the  senate.  Yet, 
truth  to  say,  so  stirred  seems  the  mind  of  this  whole 
people  in  the  matter,  that  in  battle  one  may  as  well  escape 
from  the  din  of  clashing  arms  or  the  groans  of  the  dying, 
as  in  Eome  avoid  this  argument.  Nay,  by  my  sword,  not 
a  voice  can  I  hear,  either  applauding,  disputing,  or  con 
demning,  since  I  have  set  on  foot  this  new  war  in  the  East. 
Once,  the  city  would  have  rung  with  acclamations  that  an 
army  was  gathering  for  such  an  enterprise.  Now,  it  seems 
quite  forgotten  that  Valerian  once  fell,  or  that,  late  though 
it  be,  he  ought  to  be  revenged.  This  Jewish  and  Chris 
tian  argument  fills  all  heads  and  clamours  on  every  tongue. 
Come,  let  us  shake  off  this  demon  in  a  new  cup,  and  drink 
deep  to  the  revenge  of  Valerian.  " 

"  And  of  the  gods, "  ejaculated  Pronto,  as  he  lifted  the 
goblet  to  his  lips. 

"  There  again  ?  "  quickly  and  sharply  demanded  Aure- 
lian,  bending  his  dark  brows  upon  the  offender. 

"  Doubtless, "  said  Portia,  "  he  means  well,  though  over- 
zealous  and  rash  in  speech.  His  heart,  I  am  sure,  seconds 
not  the  cruel  language  of  his  tongue.  So  at  least  1  will 
believe ;  and  in  the  mean  time  hope  that  the  zeal  he  has 
displayed  for  the  ancient  religion  of  our  country  may  not 
be  without  its  use  upon  some  present, "  glancing  her  eye 
towards  me  and  Julia,  "  who,  with  what  I  trust  will  prove 
a  brief  truancy,  have  wandered  from  their  household  gods 
and  the  temples  of  their  fathers.  " 

"  May  the  gods  grant  it, "  added  Livia,  "  and  restore  the 
harmony  which  should  reign  in  our  families  and  in  the 
capital !  Life  is  over  brief  to  be  passed  in  quarrel.  Now 
let  us  abandon  our  cups.  Sir  Christian  Piso !  lead  me  to 
the  gardens,  and  let  the  others  follow,  as  they  may,  our 
good  example. " 

The  gardens,  we  found,  as  we  passed  from  the  palace,  to 
be  most  brilliantly  illuminated  with  lamps  of  every  form 
and  hue.  We  seemed  suddenly  to  have  passed  to  another 
world,  so  dream-like  was  the  effect  of  the  multitudinous 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  67 

lights  as  they  fell  with  white,  red,  lurid,  or  golden  glare 
upon  bush  or  tree,  grotto,  statue,  or  marble  fountain. 

"  Forget  here,  Lucius  Piso, "  said  the  kind-hearted  Livia, 
"  what  you  have  just  heard  from  the  lips  of  that  harsh 
bigot,  the  savage  Fronto.  Who  could  have  looked  for 
such  madness  ?  Not  again,  if  I  possess  the  power  men  say 
I  do,  shall  he  sit  at  the  table  of  Aurelian.  Poor  Julia, 
too !  But  see !  she  walks  with  Tacitus.  Wisdom  and 
mercy  are  married  in  him,  and  both  will  shed  comfort 
on  her. " 

"  I  cannot  but  lament, "  I  replied,  "  that  a  creature  like 
Fronto  should  have  won  his  way  so  far  into  the  confidence 
of  Aurelian.  But  I  fear  him  not,  and  do  not  believe  that 
he  will  have  power  to  urge  the  emperor  to  the  adoption  of 
measures  to  which  his  own  wisdom  and  native  feelings 
must  stand  opposed.  The  rage  of  such  men  as  Fronto,  ana 
the  silent  pity  and  scorn  of  men  immeasurably  his  supe 
riors,  we  have  both  now  learned  to  bear  without  complaint, 
though  not  without  some  inward  suffering.  To  be  shut  out 
from  the  hearts  of  so  many  who  once  ran  to  meet  us  on  our 
approach,  — nor  only  that,  but  to  be  held  by  them  as  im 
pious  and  atheistical,  monsters  whom  the  earth  is  sick  of, 
and  whom  the  gods  are  besought  to  destroy, —  this  is  a  part 
of  our  burden  which  we  feel  to  be  heaviest.  Heaven  pre 
serve  to  us  the  smiles  and  the  love  of  Livia. " 

"  Doubt  not  that  they  will  ever  be  yours.  But  I  trust 
that  sentiments  like  those  of  Tacitus  will  bear  sway  in  the 
councils  of  Aurelian,  and  that  the  present  calm  will  not  be 
disturbed. " 

Thus  conversing,  we  wandered  on,  beguiled  by  such 
talk,  and  the  attractive  splendours  of  the  garden,  till  we 
found  ourselves  separated,  apparently  by  some  distance 
from  our  other  friends ;  none  passed  us,  and  none  met  us. 
We  had  reached  a  remote  and  solitary  spot  where  fewer  lamps 
had  been  hung,  and  the  light  was  faint  and  unequal.  Not 
sorry  to  be  thus  alone,  we  seated  ourselves  on  the  low  ped 
estal  of  a  group  of  statuary  —  once  the  favourite  resort  of 
the  fair  and  false  Terentia  —  whose  forms  could  scarcely  be 


68  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

defined,  and  which  was  enveloped  at  a  few  paces  distant 
with  shrubs  and  flowers,  forming  a  thin  wall  of  partition 
between  us  and  another  walk,  corresponding  to  the  one  we 
were  in,  but  winding  away  in  a  different  direction.  We 
had  sat  not  long,  either  silent  or  conversing,  ere  our  at 
tention  was  caught  by  the  sound  of  approaching  voices, 
apparently  in  earnest  discourse.  A  moment  and  we  knew 
them  to  be  those  of  Fronto  and  Aurelian. 

"  By  the  gods1,  his  life  shall  answer  it!  "  said  Aurelian, 
with  vehemence,  but  with  suppressed  tones  :  "  who  but  he 
was  to  observe  the  omens  ?  Was  I  to  know  that  to-day  is 
the  ides,  and  to-morrow  the  day  after  ?  The  rites  must  be 
postponed. " 

"  It  were  better  not,  in  my  judgment, "  said  Fronto ;  "  all 
the  other  signs  are  favourable.  Never,  Papirius  assured 
me,  did  the  sacred  chickens  seize  so  eagerly  the  crumbs. 
Many  times,  as  he  closely  watched,  did  he  observe  them, 
which  is  rare,  drop  them  from  their  mouths  overfilled. 
The  times  he  has  exactly  recorded.  A  rite  like  this  put 
off,  when  all  Rome  is  in  expectation,  would,  in  the  opinion 
of  all  the  world,  be  of  a  more  unfavourable  interpretation 
than  if  more  than  the  day  were  against  us. " 

"  You  counsel  well.     Let  it  go  on.  " 

"  But  to  insure  a  fortunate  event,  and  propitiate  the 
gods,  I  would  early,  and  before  the  august  ceremonies, 
offer  the  most  costly  and  acceptable  sacrifice. " 

"  That  were  well  also.  In  the  prisons  there  are  captives 
of  Germany,  of  Gaul,  of  Egypt,  and  Palmyra.  Take  what, 
and  as  many  as  you  will.  If  we  ever  make  sure  of  the 
favour  of  the  gods,  it  is  when  we  offer  freely  that  which 
we  hold  at  the  highest  price.  " 

"  I  would  rather  they  were  Christians, "  urged  Fronto. 

"  That  cannot  be, "  said  Aurelian.  "  I  question  if  there 
be  a  Christian  within  the  prison  walls ;  and,  were  there 
hundreds,  it  is  not  a  criminal  I  would  bring  to  the  altar. 
I  would  as  soon  offer  a  diseased  or  ill-shaped  bull. " 

"  But  it  were  an  easy  matter  to  seize  such  as  we  might 
want.  Not,  0  Aurelian,  till  this  accursed  race  is  exter- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  69 

minated,  will  the  heavens  smile  as  formerly  upon  our  coun 
try.  Why  are  the  altars  thus  forsaken  ?  Why  are  the 
temples  no  longer  thronged  as  once  ?  Why  do  the  great, 
and  the  rich,  and  the  learned,  silently  withhold  their  aid, 
or  openly  scoff  and  jeer  ?  Why  are  our  sanctuaries  crowded 
only  by  the  scum  and  refuse  of  the  city  ?  " 

"  I  know  not ;  question  me  not  thus.  " 

"  Is  not  the  reason  palpable  and  gross  to  the  dullest 
mind  ?  Is  it  not  because  of  the  daily  growth  of  this  blas 
pheming  and  atheistical  crew,  who,  by  horrid  arts,  seduce 
the  young,  the  timid,  and,  above  all,  the  women,  who  ever 
draw  the  world  with  them  to  join  them  in  their  unhal 
lowed  orgies,  thus  stripping  the  temples  of  their  worship 
pers,  and  dragging  the  gods  themselves  from  their  seats  ? 
Think  you  the  gods  look  on  with  pleasure  while  their 
altars  and  temples  are  profaned  or  abandoned,  and  a  reli 
gion  that  denies  them  rears  itself  upon  their  ruins  ?  " 

"  I  know  not ;  say  no  more. " 

"  Is  it  possible  religion  or  the  state  should  prosper,  while 
he,  who  is  not  only  vicegerent  of  the  gods,  universal  mon 
arch,  but,  what  is  more,  their  sworn  pontifex  maximus, 
connives  at  their  existence  and  dissemination, — " 

"  Thou  liest !  " 

"  — harbouring  even  beneath  the  imperial  roof,  and  feast 
ing  at  the  imperial  table,  the  very  heads  and  chief  min 
isters  of  this  black  mischief - 

"  Hold,  I  say.  I  swear,  by  all  the  gods  known  and  un 
known,  that  another  word  and  thy  head  shall  answer  it. 
Is  my  soul  that  of  a  lamb,  that  I  need  this  stirring  up  to 
deeds  of  blood?  Am  I  so  lame  and  backward,  when  the 
gods  are  to  be  defended,  that  I  am  to  be  thus  charged  ? 
Let  the  lion  sleep  when  he  will;  chafed  too  much,  and 
he  may  spring  and  slay  at  random.  I  love  not  the  Chris 
tians,  nor  any  who  flout  the  gods  and  their  worship;  that 
thou  knowest  well.  But  I  love  Piso,  Aurelia,  and  the  di 
vine  Julia ;  that  thou  knowest  as  well.  Now,  no  more.  " 

"  For  my  life, "  said  Fronto,  "  I  hold  it  cheap,  if  I  may 
but  be  faithful  to  my  office  and  the  gods. " 


70  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  I  believe  it,  Fronto.  The  gods  will  reward  thee.  Let 
us  on.  " 

In  the  earnestness  of  their  talk  they  had  paused,  and 
stood  just  before  us,  being  separated  but  by  a  thin  screen 
of  shrubs.  We  continued  rooted  to  our  seats  while  this 
conversation  went  on,  held  there  both  by  the  impossibility 
of  withdrawing  without  observation,  and  by  a  desire  to 
hear,  I  confess  it,  what  was  thus  in  a  manner  forced  upon 
me,  and  concerned  so  nearly,  not  only  myself,  but  thou 
sands  of  my  fellow-Christians. 

When  they  were  hidden  from  us  by  the  winding  of  the 
path,  we  rose  and  turned  towards  the  palace. 

"  That  savage !  "  said  Livia.  "  How  strange  that  Aure- 
lian,  who  knows  so  well  how  to  subdue  the  world,  should 
have  so  little  power  to  shake  off.  this  reptile !  " 

"  There  is  power  enough, "  I  replied,  "  but  alas !  I  fear 
the  will  is  wanting.  Superstition  is  as  deep  a  principle 
in  the  breast  of  Aurelian  as  ambition,  and  of  that  Fronto 
is  the  most  fitting  high-priest.  Aurelian  places  him  at 
the  head  of  religion  in  the  state,  for  those  very  qualities 
whose  fierce  expression  has  now  made  us  tremble.  Let  us 
hope  that  the  emperor  will  remain  where  he  now  is,  in  a 
position  from  which  it  seems  Fronto  is  unable  to  dislodge 
him,  and  all  will  go  well.  " 

We  soon  reached  the  palace,  where,  joining  Julia  and 
Portia,  our  chariot  soon  bore  us  to  the  Coelian  hill. 
Farewell. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  71 


LETTEK  IV. 

FROM   PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

THE  HUMAN  SACRIFICES.  —  THE  DEDICATION  OF  THE  TEMPLE. — 
THE  STORM. —  THE  VOICE. —  THE  EVIL  AUGURIES  —  AURE- 
LIAN'S  ANGER.  —  MACER.  —  SENSATION  IN  ROME.  —  FRONTO'S 
INFLUENCE. 

IPKOMISED  you,  Fausta,  before  the  news  should  reach 
you  in  any  other  way,  to  relate  the  occurrences  arid 
describe  the  ceremonies  of  the  day  appointed  for  the  dedica 
tion  of  the  new  temple  of  the  Sun.  The  day  has  now 
passed,  not  without  incidents  of  even  painful  interest  to 
ourselves,  and  therefore  to  you,  and  I  sit  down  to  fulfil  my 
engagements. 

Vast  preparations  had  been  making  for  the  dedication  for 
many  days  or  even  months  preceding,  and  the  day  arose 
upon  a  city  full  of  expectation  of  the  shows,  ceremonies, 
and  games,  that  were  to  reward  their  long  and  patient  wait 
ing.  For  the  season  of  the  year  the  day  was  hot,  unnatu 
rally  so  ;  and  the  sky  filled  with  those  massive  clouds,  piled 
like  mountains  of  snow  one  upon  another,  which,  while  they 
both  please  the  eye  by  their  forms  and  veil  the  fierce  splen 
dours  of  the  sun,  as  they  now  and  then  sail  across  his  face, 
at  the  same  time  portend  wind  and  storm.  All  Eome  was 
early  astir.  It  was  ushered  in  by  the  criers,  traversing  the 
streets  and  proclaiming  the  rites  and  spectacles  of  the  day, 
—  what  they  were  and  where  to  be  witnessed,  —  followed 
by  troops*  of  boys,  imitating  in  their  grotesque  way  the 
pompous  declarations  of  the  men  of  authority,  not  unfre- 
quently  drawing  down  upon  their  heads  the  curses  and  the 
batons  of  the  insulted  dignitaries.  A  troop  of  this  sort 
passed  the  windows  of  the  room  in  which  Julia  and  I  were 


72  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

sitting  at  our  morning  meal.  As  the  crier  ended  his  procla 
mation,  and  the  shouts  of  the  applauding  urchins  died  away, 
Milo,  who  is  our  attendant  in  preference  to  any  other  and 
all  others,  observed  that  "  the  fellow  of  a  crier  deserved  to 
have  his  head  beat  about  with  his  own  rod,  for  coming 
round  with  his  news  not  till  after  the  greatest  show  of  the 
day  was  over." 

"  What  mean  you  ?  "  I  asked.     "  Explain." 

"  What  should  I  mean,"  he  replied,  "  but  the  morning  sac 
rifice  at  the  temple  ? " 

"And  what  so  wonderful,"  said  Julia,  "in  a  morning 
sacrifice  ?  The  temples  are  open  every  morning,  are  they 
not?" 

"  Yes,  truly  are  they,"  rejoined  Milo;  "but  not  for  so  great 
a  purpose.  Curio  wished  me  to  have  been  there,  and  says 
nothing  could  have  been  more  propitious.  They  died  as  the 
gods  love  to  have  them." 

"  Was  there  no  bellowing  nor  struggling,  then  ? "  said 
Julia. 

"  Neither,  Curio  assures  me ;  but  they  met  the  knife  of 
the  priest  as  they  would  the  sword  of  an  enemy  on  the  field 
of  battle." 

"  How  say  you  ?  "  said  Julia  quickly,  turning  pale  ;  "  do  I 
hear  aright,  Milo,  or  are  you  mocking  ?  God  forbid  that  you 
should  speak  of  a  human  sacrifice  ! " 

"  It  is  even  so,  mistress.  And  why  should  it  not  be  so  ? 
If  the  favour  of  the  gods,  upon  whom  we  all  depend,  as  the 
priests  tell  us,  is  to  be  purchased  so  well  in  no  other  way, 
what  is  the  life  of  one  man  or  of  many  in  such  a  cause  ? 
The  great  Gallienus,  when  his  life  had  been  less  ordered 
than  usual  after  the  rules  of  temperance  and  religion,  used 
to  make  amends  by  a  few  captives  slain  to  Jupiter;  to 
which,  doubtless,  may  be  ascribed  his  prosperous  reign. 
But,  as  I  was  saying,  there  was,  as  Curio  informed  me,  at 
the  market  not  long  afterwards,  a  sacrifice,  on  the  private 
altar  of  the  temple,  of  ten  captives.  Their  blood  flowed  just 
as  the  great  god  of  the  temple  showed  himself  in  the  horizon. 
It  would  have  done  you  good,  Curio  said,  to  see  with  what 


FROM  PISO  TO    FAUSTA.  73 

a  hearty  and  dexterous  zeal  Fronto  struck  the  knife  into 
their  hearts ;  for  to  no  inferior  minister  would  he  delegate 
the  sacred  office." 

"  Lucius,"  cried  Julia,  "  I  thought  that  such  offerings  were 
now  no  more.  Is  it  so,  that  superstition  yet  delights  itself 
in  the  blood  of  murdered  men  ? " 

"It  is  just  so,"  I  was  obliged  to  reply.  "With  a  people 
naturally  more  gentle  and  humane  than  we  of  Eome,  this 
custom  would  long  ago  have  fallen  into  disuse.  They  would 
have  easily  found  a  way,  as  all  people  do,  to  conform  their 
religious  doctrine  and  offerings  to  their  feelings  and  in 
stincts.  But  with  the  Eomans,  by  nature  and  long  train 
ing  lovers  of  blood,  their  country  built  upon  the  ruins  of 
others,  and  cemented  with  blood,  the  taste  for  it  is  not 
easily  eradicated.  There  are  temples  where  human  sac 
rifices  have  never  ceased.  Laws  have  restrained  their 
frequency,  have  forbidden  them  under  heaviest  penalties, 
unless  permitted  by  the  state;  but  these  laws  ever  have 
been,  and  are  now,  evaded ;  and  it  is  the  settled  purpose  of 
Fronto  and  others  of  his  stamp  to  restore  to  them  their  lost 
honours,  and  make  them  again,  as  they  used  to  be,  the  chief 
rite  in  the  worship  of  the  gods.  I  am  not  sorry,  Julia,  that 
your  doubts,  though  so  painfully,  have  yet  been  so  effectually 
removed." 

Julia  had  for  some  time  blamed  as  over-ardent  the  zeal  of 
the  Christians.  She  had  thought  that  the  evil  of  the  exist 
ing  superstitions  was  over-estimated,  and  that  it  were  wiser 
to  pursue  a  course  of  more  moderation ;  that  a  system  that 
nourished  such  virtues  as  she  found  in  Portia,  in  Tacitus, 
and  others  like  them,  could  not  be  so  corrupting  in  its 
power  as  the  Christians  were  in  the  habit  of  representing 
it ;  that  if  we  could  succeed  in  substituting  Christianity 
quietly,  without  alienating  the  affections  or  shocking  too 
violently  the  prejudices  of  the  believers  in  the  prevailing 
superstitions,  our  gain  would  be  double.  To  this  mode  of 
arguing  I  knew  she  was  impelled  by  her  love  and  almost 
reverence  of  Portia ;  and  how  could  I  blame  it,  springing 
from  such  a  cause  ?  I  had,  almost  criminally,  allowed  her 


74  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

to  blind  herself  in  a  way  she  never  would  have  done  had 
her  strong  mind  acted,  as  on  other  subjects,  untrammelled 
and  free.  I  was  not  sorry  that  Milo  had  brought  before  her 
mind  a  fact  which,  however  revolting  in  its  horror  to  such  a 
nature  as  hers,  could  not  but  heal  while  it  wounded. 

"  Milo, "  said  Julia,  as  I  ended,  "  say  now  that  you  have 
been  jesting ;  that  this  is  a  piece  of  wit  with  which  you 
would  begin  in  a  suitable  way  an  extraordinary  day ;  this 
is  one  of  your  Gallienus  fictions. " 

"  Before  the  gods,  if  never  before, "  replied  Milo,  "  I  have 
told  you  the  naked  truth, —  but  not  the  whole;  for  Curio 
left  me  not  till  he  had  shown  how  each  had  died.  Of  the 
ten,  but  three,  he  averred,  resisted,  or  died  unwillingly. 
The  three  were  Germans  from  beyond  the  Danube,  -^- 
brothers,  he  said,  who  had  long  lain  in  prison,  till  their 
bones  were  ready  to  start  through  the  skin.  Yet  were 
they  not  ready  to  die.  It  seemed  as  if  there  were  some 
thing  they  longed  —  more  even  than  for  life  or  freedom  — 
to  say ;  but  they  might  as  well  have  been  dumb  and  tongue- 
less,  for  none  understood  their  barbarous  jargon.  When 
they  found  that  their  words  were  in  vain,  they  wrung  their 
hands  in  their  woe,  and  cried  out  aloud  in  their  agony. 
Then,  however,  at  the  stern  voice  of  Fronto  warning  them 
of  the  hour,  they  ceased,  embraced  each  other,  and  received 
the  fatal  blow ;  the  others  signified  their  pleasure  at  dying 
so,  rather  than  be  thrown  to  wild  beasts  or  left  to  die  by 
slow  degrees  within  their  dungeon's  walls.  Two  rejoiced 
that  it  was  their  fate  to  pour  out  their  blood  upon  the  altar 
of  a  god,  and  knelt  devoutly  before  the  uplifted  knife  of 
Fronto.  Never,  said  Curio,  was  there  a  more  fortunate 
offering.  Aurelian  heard  the  report  of  it  with  lively  joy, 
and  said  that  'now  all  would  go  well. '  Curio  is  a  good 
friend  of  mine ;  will  it  please  you  to  hear  these  things 
from  his  own  lips?" 

"  No, "  said  Julia ;  "  I  would  hear  no  more.  I  have  heard 
more  than  enough.  How  needful,  Lucius,  if  these  things 
are  so,  that  our  Christian  zeal  abate  not !  I  see  that  this 
stern  and  bloody  superstition  requires  that  they  who  would 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  75 

deal  with  it  must  carry  their  lives  in  their  hand,  ready  to 
part  with  nothing  so  easily,  if  by  so  doing  they  can  hew 
away  one  of  the  branches,  or  tear  up  one  of  the  roots  of 
this  ancient  and  pernicious  error.  I  blame  not  Probus 
longer.  —  no,  nor  the  wild  rage  of  Macer. " 

"  Two,  lady,  of  the  captives  were  of  Palmyra ;  the 
queen's  name  and  yours  were  last  upon  their  lips." 

"  Great  God !  how  retribution  like  a  dark  pursuing 
shadow  hangs  upon  the  steps  of  guilt.  Even  here  it  seeks 
us.  Alas,  my  mother !  Heaven  grant  that  these  things 
fall  not  upon  your  ears !  " 

Julia  was  greatly  moved,  and  sat  a  long  time  silent,  her 
face  buried  in  her  hands,  and  weeping.  I  motioned  to 
Milo  to  withdraw  and  say  no  more.  Upon  Julia,  although 
so  innocent  of  all  wrong,  —  guiltless  as  an  infant  of  the 
blame,  whatever  it  may  be,  which  the  world  fixes  upon 
Zenobia,  —  yet  upon  her  as  heavily  as  upon  her  great 
mother  fall  the  sorrows  which  sooner  or  later  overtake 
those  who,  for  any  purpose,  in  whatever  degree  selfish,  'have 
involved  their  fellow-creatures  in  useless  suffering.  Being 
part  of  the  royal  house,  Julia  feels  that  she  must  bear  her 
portion  of  its  burdens.  Time  alone  can  cure  this  grief. 

But  you  are  waiting,  with  a  woman's  impatient  curi 
osity,  to  hear  of  the  dedication. 

At  the  appointed  hour  we  were  at  the  palace  of  Aurelian 
on  the  Palatine,  where  a  procession,  pompous  as  art,  and 
rank,  and  numbers  could  make  it,  was  formed,  to  move 
thence  by  a  winding  and  distant  route  to  the  temple  near 
the  foot  of  the  Quirinal.  Julia  repaired  with  Portia  to  a 
place  of  observation  near  the  temple,  I  to  the  palace,  to 
join  the  company  of  the  emperor.  Of  the  gorgeous  mag 
nificence  of  the  procession  I  shall  tell  you  nothing.  It 
was,  in  extent  arid  variety  of  pomp  and  costliness  of  deco 
ration,  a  copy  of  that  of  the  late  triumph,  and  went  even 
beyond  the  captivating  splendour  of  the  example.  Eoman 
music,  which  is  not  that  of  Palmyra,  lent  such  charms  as 
it  could  to  our  passage  through  the  streets  to  the  temple, 
from  a  thousand  performers. 


76  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

As  we  drew  near  to  the  lofty  fabric  I  thought  that  no 
scene  of  such  various  beauty  and  magnificence  had  ever  met 
my  eye.  The  temple  itself  is  a  work  of  unrivalled  art.  In 
size  it  surpasses  any  other  building  of  the  same  kind  in 
Rome,  and  for  the  excellence  of  workmanship  and  purity 
of  design,  although  it  may  fall  below  the  standard  of 
Hadrian's  age,  yet  for  a  certain  air  of  grandeur  and  luxuri 
ance  of  invention  in  its  details,  and  lavish  profusion  of 
embellishment  in  gold  and  silver,  no  temple  or  other 
edifice  of  any  preceding  age  ever  perhaps  resembled  it. 
Its  order  is  the  Corinthian,  of  the  Bonian  form,  and  the 
entire  building  is  surrounded  by  its  slender  columns,  each 
composed  of  a  single  piece  of  marble.  Upon  the  front  is 
wrought  Apollo  surrounded  by  the  Hours.  The  western 
extremity  is  approached  by  a  flight  of  steps,  of  the  same 
breadth  as  the  temple  itself.  At  the  eastern  there  extends 
beyond  the  walls,  to  a  distance  equal  to  the  length  of  the 
building,  a  marble  platform,  upon  which  stands  the  altar 
of  sacrifice,  and  which  is  ascended  by  various  flights  of 
steps,  some  little  more  than  a  gently  rising  plain,  up 
which  the  beasts  are  led  that  are  destined  to  the  altar. 

When  this  vast  extent  of  wall  and  column,  of  the  most 
dazzling  brightness,  came  into  view,  everywhere  covered, 
together  with  the  surrounding  temples,  palaces,  and  thea 
tres,  with  a  dense  mass  of  human  beings  of  all  climes  and 
regions,  dressed  out  in  their  richest  attire ;  music  from 
innumerable  instruments  filling  the  heavens  with  harmony  ; 
shouts  of  the  proud  and  excited  populace  every  few  mo 
ments,  and  from  different  points,  as  Aurelian  advanced, 
shaking  the  air  with  its  thrilling  din ;  the  neighing  of 
horses,  the  frequent  blasts  of  the  trumpet,  —  the  whole 
made  more  solemnly  imposing  by  the  vast  masses  of  cloud 
which  swept  over  the  sky,  now  suddenly  unveiling  and 
again  eclipsing  the  sun,  the  great  god  of  this  idolatry,  and 
from  which  few  could  withdraw  their  gaze,  —  when  at 
once  this  all  broke  upon  my  eye  and  ear  I  was  like  a  child 
who  before  had  never  seen  aught  but  his  own  village,  and 
his  own  rural  temple,  in  the  effect  wrought  upon  me  and 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  77 

the  passiveness  with  which  I  abandoned  myself  to  the 
sway  of  the  senses.  Not  one  there  was  more  ravished  by 
the  outward  circumstance  and  show.  I  thought  of  Home's 
thousand  years,  of  her  power,  her  greatness,  and  univer 
sal  empire,  and  for  a  moment  my  step  was  not  less  proud 
than  that  of  Aurelian.  But  after  that  moment,  —  when 
the  senses  had  had  their  fill,  when  the  eye  had  seen  the 
glory,  and  the  ear  had  fed  upon  the  harmony  and  the 
praise, —  then  I  thought  and  felt  very  differently.  Sorrow 
and  compassion  for  these  gay  multitudes  were  at  my  heart ; 
prophetic  forebodings  of  disaster,  danger,  and  ruin  to  those 
to  whose  sacred  cause  I  had  linked  myself,  made  my  tongue 
to  falter  in  its  speech  and  my  limbs  to  tremble.  I  thought 
that  the  superstition  that  was  upheld  by  the  wealth  and 
the  power  whose  manifestations  were  before  me,  had  its 
roots  in  the  very  centre  of  the  earth,  —  far  too  deep  down 
for  a  few  like  myself  ever  to  reach  them.  I  was  like  one 
whose  last  hope  of  life  and  escape  is  suddenly  struck 
away. 

I  was  roused  from  these  meditations  by  our  arrival  at 
the  eastern  front  of  the  temple.  Between  the  two  central 
columns,  on  a  throne  of  gold  and  ivory,  sat  the  emperor  of 
the  world,  surrounded  by  the  senate,  the  colleges  of  augurs 
and  haruspices,  and  by  the  priests  of  the  various  temples 
of  the  capital,  all  in  their  peculiar  costume.  Then  Fronto, 
the  priest  of  the  temple,  when  the  crier  had  proclaimed 
that  the  hour  of  worship  and  sacrifice  had  come,  and  had 
commanded  silence  to  be  observed,  —  standing  at  the  altar, 
glittering  in  his  white  and  golden  robes  like  a  messenger 
of  light,  — bared  his  head,  and  lifting  his  face  up  toward 
the  sun,  offered  in  clear  and  sounding  tones  the  prayer  of 
dedication.  As  he  came  toward  the  close  of  his  prayer,  he, 
as  is  so  usual,  with  loud  and  almost  frantic  cries  and  im 
portunate  repetition,  called  upon  the  god  to  hear  him,  and 
then,  with  appropriate  names  and  praises,  invoked  the 
Father  of  gods  and  men  to  be  present  and  hear.  Just  as 
he  had  thus  solemnly  invoked  Jupiter  by  name,  and  was 
about  to  call  upon  the  other  gods  in  the  same  manner,  the 


78  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

clouds,  which  had  been  deepening  and  darkening,  suddenly 
obscured  the  sun ;  a  distant  peal  of  thunder  rolled  along  the 
heavens,  and  at  the  same  moment,  from  the  dark  recesses 
of  the  temple,  a  voice  of  preternatural  power  came  forth, 
proclaiming,  so  that  the  whole  multitude  heard  the  words : 
"  God  is  but  one ;  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible. " 
It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  horror  that  seized  those  mul 
titudes.  Many  cried  out  with  fear,  and  each  seemed  to 
shrink  behind  the  other.  Paleness  sat  upon  every  face. 
The  priest  paused  as  if  struck  by  a  power  from  above. 
Even  the  brazen  Fronto  was  appalled.  Aurelian  leaped 
from  his  seat,  and  by  his  countenance,  white  and  awe 
struck,  showed  that  to  him  it  came  as  a  voice  from  the 
gods.  He  spoke  not,  but  stood  gazing  at  the  dark  en 
trance  into  the  temple  from  which  the  sound  had  come. 
Fronto  hastily  approached  him,  and  whispering  but  one 
word,  as  it  were,  into  his  ear,  the  emperor  started;  the 
spell  that  bound  him  was  dissolved,  and  recovering  him 
self,  making  indeed  as  though  a  very  different  feeling  had 
possessed  him,  cried  out  in  fierce  tones  to  his  guards, — 

"  Search  the  temple ;  some  miscreant  hid  away  among 
the  columns  profanes  thus  the  worship  and  the  place. 
Seize  him,  and  drag  him  forth  to  instant  death !  " 

The  guards  of  the  emperor  and  the  servants  of  the  tem 
ple  rushed  in  at  that  bidding  and  searched  in  every  part 
the  interior  of  the  building.  They  soon  emerged,  saying 
that  the  search  was  fruitless.  The  temple  in  all  its  aisles 
and  apartments  was  empty. 

The  ceremonies,  quiet  being  again  restored,  then  went 
on.  Twelve  bulls,  of  purest  white  and  of  perfect  forms, 
their  horns  bound  about  with  fillets,  were  now  led  by  the 
servants  of  the  temple  up  the  marble  steps  to  the  front 
of  the  altar,  where  stood  the  cultrarii  and  haruspices, 
ready  to  slay  them  and  examine  their  entrails.  The 
omens,  as  gathered  by  the  eyes  of  all  from  the  fierce  strag 
glings  and  bellowings  of  the  animals  as  they  were  led 
toward  the  place  of  sacrifice, —  some  even  escaping  from 
the  hands  of  those  who  had  the  management  of  them,  — 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  79 

and  from  the  violent  and  convulsive  throes  of  others,  as 
the  blow  fell  upon  their  heads,  or  the  knife  severed  their 
throats,  were  of  the  darkest  character,  and  brought  a  deep 
gloom  upon  the  brow  of  the  emperor.  The  report  of  the 
haruspices  upon  examination  of  the  entrails  was  little  cal 
culated  to  remove  that  gloom.  It  was  for  the  most  part 
unfavourable.  Especially  appalling  was  the  sight  of  a 
heart  so  lean  and  withered  that  it  scarce  seemed  possible 
it  should  ever  have  formed  a  part  of  a  living  animal.  But 
more  harrowing  than  all  was  the  voice  of  Fronto,  who, 
prying  with  the  haruspices  into  the  smoking  carcass  of  one 
of  the  slaughtered  bulls,  suddenly  cried  out  with  horror 
that  "  no  heart  was  to  be  found !  " 

The  emperor,  hardly  to  be  restrained  by  those  near  him 
from  some  expression  of  anger,  ordered  a  more  diligent 
search  to  be  made. 

"  It  is  not  in  nature  that  such  a  thing  should  be,"  he 
said.  "  Men  are.  in  truth,  sometimes  without  hearts ;  but 
brutes,  as  I  think,  never.  " 

The  report  was,  however,  confidently  confirmed.  Fronto 
himself  approached  and  said  that  his  eye  had  from  the  first 
been  upon  the  beast,  and  the  exact  truth  had  been  stated. 

The  carcasses,  such  parts  as  were  for  the  flames,  were 
then  laid  upon  the  vast  altar,  and  the  flames  of  the  sacri 
fice  ascended. 

The  heavens  were  again  obscured  by  thick  clouds,  which, 
accumulating  into  dark  masses,  began  now  nearer  and 
nearer  to  shoot  forth  lightning  and  roll  their  thunders. 
The  priest  commenced  the  last  office, —  prayer  to  the  god  to 
whom  the  new  temple  had  been  thus  solemnly  consecrated. 
He  again  bowed  his  head,  and  again  lifted  up  his  voice. 
But  no  sooner  had  he  invoked  the  god  of  the  temple, 
and  besought  his  ear,  than  again  from  its  dark  interior 
the  same  awful  sounds  issued  forth,  this  time  saying, 
"  Thy  gods,  O  Rome,  are  false  and  lying  gods.  God  is 
but  one !  " 

Aurelian,  pale,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  with  superstitious 
fear,  strove  to  shake  it  off,  giving  it  artfully  and  with 


80  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

violence  the  appearance  of  offended  dignity.  His  voice 
was  a  shriek  rather  than  a  human  utterance,  as  he  cried 
out,  — 

"  This  is  but  a  Christian  device ;  search  the  temple  till 
the  accursed  Nazarene  be  found,  and  hew  him  piece -meal.  " 
More  he  would  have  said,  but  at  the  instant  a  bolt  of  light 
ning  shot  from  the  heavens,  and  lighting  upon  a  large 
sycamore  which  shaded  a  part  of  the  temple  court,  clove  it 
in  twain.  The  swollen  cloud  at  the  same  moment  burst, 
and  a  deluge  of  rain  poured  upon  the  city,  the  temple,  the 
gazing  multitudes,  and  the  just  kindled  altars.  The  sacred 
fires  went  out  in  hissing  and  darkness ;  a  tempest  of  wind 
whirled  the  limbs  of  the  slaughtered  victims  into  the  air, 
and  abroad  over  the  neighbouring  streets.  All  was  con 
fusion,  uproar,  terror,  and  dismay.  The  crowds  sought 
safety  in  the  houses  of  the  nearest  inhabitants,  and  in  the 
porches  of  the  palaces.  Aurelian  and  the  senators,  and 
those  nearest  him,  fled  to  the  interior  of  the  temple.  The 
heavens  blazed  with  the  quick  flashing  of  the  lightning, 
and  the  temple  itself  seemed  to  rock  beneath  the  voice  of 
the  thunder.  I  never  knew  in  Eome  so  terrific  a  tempest. 
The  stoutest  trembled,  for  life  hung  by  a  thread.  Great 
numbers,  it  has  now  been  found,  in  every  part  of  the  capi 
tal,  fell  a  prey  to  the  fiery  bolts.  The  Capitol  itself  was 
struck,  and  the  brass  statue  of  Vespasian  in  the  Forum 
thrown  down  and  partly  melted.  The  Tiber  in  a  few 
hours  overran  its  banks  and  laid  much  of  the  city  on  its 
borders  under  water. 

But  ere  long  the  storm  was  over.  The  retreating  clouds, 
but  still  sullenly  muttering  in  the  distance  as  they  rolled 
away,  were  gayly  lighted  up  by  the  sun,  which  again 
shone  forth  in  his  splendour.  The  scattered  limbs  of  the 
victims  were  collected  and  again  laid  upon  the  altar.  Dry 
wood  being  brought,  the  flames  quickly  shot  upward  and 
consumed  to  the  last  joint  and  bone  the  sacred  offerings. 
Fronto  once  more  stood  before  the  altar,  and  now  uninter 
rupted,  performed  the  last  office  of  the  ceremony.  Then 
around  the  tables  spread  within  the  temple  to  the  honour 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  81 

of  the  gods,  feasting  upon  the  luxuries  contributed  by 
every  quarter  of  the  earth,  and  filling  high  with  wine,  the 
adverse  omens  of  the  day  were  by  most  forgotten.  But 
not  by  Aurelian ;  no  smile  was  seen  to  light  up  his  dark 
countenance.  The  jests  of  Varus  and  the  wisdom  of  Por- 
phyrus  alike  failed  to  reach  him.  Wrapped  up  in  his  own 
thoughts,  he  brooded  gloomily  over  what  had  happened, 
and  strove  to  read  the  interpretation  of  portents  so  unusual 
and  alarming. 

I  went  not  in  to  the  feast,  but  returned  home,  reflecting 
as  I  went  upon  the  events  I  had  witnessed.  I  knew  not 
what  to  think.  That  in  times  past,  long  after  the  depart 
ure  from  the  earth  of  Jesus  and  his  immediate  followers, 
the  Deity  had  interposed  in  seasons  of  peculiar  perplexity 
to  the  Church,  and  in  a  way  to  be  observed  had  manifested 
his  power,  I  did  not  doubt.  But  for  a  long  time  such 
revelations  had  wholly  ceased.  And  I  could  not  see  any 
such  features  in  the  present  juncture  as  would,  to  speak  as 
a  man,  justify  and  vindicate  a  departure  from  the  ordinary 
methods  of  the  Divine  providence.  But  then,  on  the  other 
hand,  I  could  not  otherwise  account  for  the  voice  nor  dis 
cover  any  way  in  which,  had  one  been  so  disposed,  he 
could  so  successfully  and  securely  have  accomplished  his 
work.  Revolving  these  things,  and  perplexed  by  doubts, 
I  reached  the  Ccelian,  when  as  T  entered  my  dwelling,  I 
found,  to  my  great  satisfaction,  Probus  seated  with  Julia, 
who,  at  an  early  period,  foreseeing  the  tempest,  had  with 
Portia  withdrawn  to  the  security  of  her  own  roof. 

"  I  am  glad  you  are  come  at  length, "  said  Julia,  as  I  en 
tered  ;  "  our  friend  has  scarce  spoken.  I  should  think, 
did  I  not  know  the  contrary,  that  he  had  suddenly  aban 
doned  the  service  of  truth  and  become  a  disciple  of  No- 
vatus.  He  hath  done  little  but  groan  and  sigh. " 

"  Surely, "  I  replied,  "  the  occasion  warrants  both  sighs 
and  groans.  But  when  came  you  from  the  temple  ?  " 

"  On  the  appearance  of  the  storm,  just  as  Fronto  ap 
proached  the  altar  the  first  time.  The  signs  were  not  to  be 
mistaken,  by  any  who  were  not  so  much  engrossed  by  the 

6 


82  LETTERS    FROM  ROME. 

scene  as  to  be  insensible  to  all  else,  that  a  tempest  was  in 
the  sky  and  would  soon  break  upon  the  crowds  in  a  deluge 
of  rain  and  hail,  as  has  happened.  So  that,  warning 
Portia  of  the  danger,  we  early  retreated,  —  she  with  reluc 
tance  ;  but  for  myself,  I  was  glad  to  be  driven  away  from 
a  scene  that  brought  so  vividly  before  me  the  events  of  the 
early  morning. " 

"  I  am  glad  it  was  so, "  I  replied ;  "  you  would  have  been 
more  severely  tried  had  you  remained.  "  And  I  then  gave 
an  account  of  the  occurrences  of  the  day. 

"  I  know  not  what  to  make  of  it, "  she  said,  as  I  ended. 
"  Probus,  teach  us  what  to  think.  I  am  bewildered  and 
amazed. " 

"  Lady, "  said  Probus,  "  the  Christian  service  is  a  hard 
one. " 

"  I  have  not  found  it  so,  thus  far ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  light  and  easy  one. " 

"  But  the  way  is  not  ever  so  smooth ;  and  the  path  once 
entered  upon,  there  is  no  retreat.  " 

"  No  roughness  or  peril,  Probus,  be  they  what  they  may, 
can  ever  shake  me.  It  is  for  eternity  I  have  embraced 
this  faith,  not  for  time ;  for  my  soul,  not  for  my  body.  " 

"  God  be  thanked  that  it  is  so.  But  the  evils  and  sor 
rows  that  time  has  in  store,  and  which  afflict  the  body,  are 
not  slight.  And  sometimes  they  burst  forth  from  the  over 
burdened  clouds  in  terrific  violence,  and  poor  human 
strength  sinks  and  trembles,  as  to-day  before  the  conflict 
of  the  elements. " 

"  They  would  find  me  strong  in  spirit  and  purpose,  I  am 
sure,  Probus,  however  my  woman's  frame  of  flesh  might 
yield.  No  fear  can  change  my  mind  nor  tear  me  from  the 
hopes  which  through  Christ  I  cherish,  more  a  thousand 
fold  than  this  life  of  an  hour. " 

"  Why,  why  is  it  so  ordained  in  the  providence  of  God, " 
said  Probus,  "  that  truth  must  needs  be  watered  with  tears 
and  blood,  ere  it  will  grow  and  bear  fruit  ?  When,  as  now, 
the  sky  is  dark  and  threatening,  and  the  mind  is  thronged 
with  fearful  anticipations  of  the  sorrows  that  await  those 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  83 

who  hold  this  faith,  how  can  I,  with  a  human  heart 
within  me,  labour  to  convert  the  unbelieving  ?  The  words 
falter  upon  my  tongue.  I  turn  from  the  young  inquirer, 
and  with  some  poor  reason  put  him  off  to  another  season. 
When  I  preach,  it  is  with  a  coldness  that  must  repel,  and 
it  is  that  which  I  almost  desire  to  be  the  effect.  My 
prayers  never  reach  Heaven  nor  the  consciences  of  those 
who  hear.  '  Probus, '  they  say,  '  is  growing  worldly.  His 
heart  burns  no  longer  within  him ;  his  zeal  is  cold.  We 
must  look  to  Macer. '  I  fear,  lady,  that  the  reproaches  are 
well  deserved.  Not  that  I  am  growing  worldly  or  cold, 
but  that  my  human  affections  lead  me  away  from  duty,  and 
make  me  a  traitor  to  truth  and  my  Master. " 

"  Oh  no,  Probus, "  said  Julia ;  "  these  are  charges  foolish 
and  false.  There  is  not  a  Christian  in  Eome  but  would 
say  so.  We  all  rest  upon  you.  " 

"  Then  upon  what  a  broken  reed !  I  am  glad  it  was  not 
I  who  made  you  a  Christian. " 

"  Do  you  grieve  to  have  been  a  benefactor,  a  redeemer, 
a  saviour  ?  " 

"  Almost,  when  I  see  the  evils  which  are  to  overwhelm 
the  believer.  I  look  round  upon  rny  little  flock  of  hearers 
and  I  seem  to  see  them  led  as  lambs  to  the  slaughter, —  poor 
defenceless  creatures,  set  upon  by  worse  than  lions  and 
wolves.  And  you,  lady  of  Piso,  how  can  I  sincerely  re 
joice  that  you  have  added  your  great  name  to  our  humble 
roll,  when  I  think  of  what  may  await  you  ?  Is  that  form 
to  be  dragged  with  violence,  amid  the  hootings  of  the 
populace,  to  the  tribunal  of  the  beast  Varus  ?  Are  those 
limbs  for  the  rack  or  the  fire  ?" 

"  I  trust  in  God  they  are  not,  Probus.  But  if  they  are 
needed  they  are  little  to  give  for  that  which  has  made  me 
so  rich  and  given  wings  to  the  soul.  I  can  spare  the  body 
now  that  the  soul  can  live  without  it.  " 

"  There  spoke  the  universal  Christian  !  What  but  truth 
could  so  change  our  poor  human  nature  into  somewhat 
quite  divine  and  godlike  ?  Think  not  I  shrink  myself  at 
the  prospect  of  obstruction  and  assault  I  am  a  man  loose 


84  LETTERS    FROM  ROME. 

upon  the  world,  weaned  by  suffering  and  misfortune  from 
earth,  and  ready  at  any  hour  to  depart  from  it.  You  know 
my  early  story.  But  I  in  vain  seek  to  steel  myself  to  the 
pains  of  others.  I  can  bear,  but  I  cannot  behold.  But 
from  what  I  have  said,  I  fear  lest  you  should  think  me 
over  apprehensive.  I  wish  it  were  so.  But  all  seems  at 
this  moment  to  be  against  us. " 

"  More,  then, "  said  Julia,  "  must  have  come  to  your  ears 
than  to  ours.  When  last  we  sat  with  the  emperor  at  his 
table,  he  seemed  well  inclined ;  and  when  urged  by  Pronto, 
rebuked  him  even  with  violence.  " 

"  Yes,  it  was  so.  " 

"  Is  it,  then,  from  the  scenes  of  to-day  at  the  temple  that 
you  draw  fresh  omens  of  misfortune  ?  I  have  asked  you 
what  we  should  think  of  them. " 

"  I  almost  tremble  to  say.  I  stood,  Piso,  not  far  from 
you,  upon  the  lower  flight  of  steps,  where  I  think  you  ob 
served  me. " 

"  I  did ;  and  at  the  sound  of  that  voice  from  the  temple, 
methought  your  face  was  paler  than  Aurelian's.  Why 
was  that  ?  " 

"  Because,  Piso,  I  knew  the  voice. " 

"  Knew  it !     What  mean  you  ?  " 

"  Eepeat  it  not ;  let  it  sink  into  your  ear  and  there  abide. 
It  was  Macer's. " 

"  Macer's  ?     Surely  you  jest.  " 

"  Alas !  I  wish  it  were  a  jest.  But  his  tones  were  no 
more  to  be  mistaken  than  were  the  thunder's. " 

"  This,  should  it  be  known,  would,  it  is  plain  to  see, 
greatly  exasperate  Aurelian.  It  would  be  more  than 
enough  for  Pronto  to  work  his  worst  ends  with.  His 
suspicions  at  once  fell  upon  the  Christians. " 

"  That, "  said  Probus,  "  was,  I  am  confident,  an  artifice. 
The  countenance  struck  with  superstitious  horror  is  not 
to  be  read  amiss.  Seen  though  but  for  a  moment,  and 
the  signature  is  upon  it,  one  and  unequivocal.  But  with 
quick  instinct  the  wily  priest  saw  his  advantage,  seized  it, 
and,  whether  believing  or  not  himself,  succeeded  in  pois- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  85 

oning  the  mind  of  Aurelian  and  that  of  the  multitude. 
So  great  was  the  commotion  among  the  populace  that, 
but  for  the  tempest,  I  believe  scarce  would  the  legions  of 
the  emperor  have  saved  us  from  slaughter  upon  the  spot. 
Honest,  misguided  Macer  —  little  dost  thou  know  how 
deep  a  wound  thou  hast  struck  into  the  very  dearest  life  of 
the  truth,  for  which  thou  wouldst  yet  at  any  moment  thy 
self  freely  suffer  and  die  !  " 

"What,"  said  Julia,  "could  have  moved  him  to  such 
madness  ?  " 

"  With  him, "  replied  Probus,  "  it  was  a  deed  of  piety 
and  genuine  zeal  for  God ;  he  saw  it  in  the  light  of  an  act 
godlike  and  God-directed.  Could  you  read  his  heart,  you 
would  find  it  calm  and  serene  in  the  consciousness  of  a 
great  duty  greatly  performed.  It  is  very  possible  he  may 
have  felt  himself  to  be  but  an  instrument  in  the  hand  of  a 
higher  power,  to  whom  he  gives  all  the  glory  and  the 
praise.  There  are  many  like  him,  lady,  both  among  Chris 
tians  and  Pagans.  The  sibyls  impose  not  so  much  upon 
others  as  upon  themselves.  They  who  give  forth  the  re 
sponses  of  the  oracle,  ofttimes  believe  that  they  are  in 
very  truth  full  of  the  god,  and  speak  not  their  own 
thoughts  but  the  inspirations  of  him  whose  priests  they 
are.  To  themselves  more  than  to  others  are  they  impos 
tors.  The  conceit  of  the  peculiar  favour  of  God,  or  of  the 
gods,  in  return  for  extraordinary  devotion,  is  a  weakness 
that  besets  our  nature  wherever  it  is  found.  An  apostle 
perhaps  never  believed  in  his  inspiration  more  firmly 
than  at  times  does  Macer  and  others  among  us  like  him. 
But  this  inward  solitary  persuasion  we  know  is  nothing, 
however  it  may  carry  away  captive  the  undiscriminating 
multitude.  " 

"  Hence,  Probus,  then,  I  suppose  the  need  of  some  out 
ward  act  of  an  extraordinary  nature  to  show  the  inspira 
tion  real. " 

"  Yes, "  he  replied.  "  No  assertion  of  divine  impulses  or 
revelations  can  avail  to  persuade  us  of  their  reality,  except 
supported  and  confirmed  by  miracle.  That,  and  that  only, 


86  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

proves  the  present  God.  Christ  would  have  died  without 
followers,  had  he  exhibited  to  the  world  only  his  character 
and  his  truth,  even  though  he  had  claimed,  and  claimed 
truly,  a  descent  from  and  communion  with  the  Deity. 
Men  would  have  said,  'This  is  an  old  and  common  story. 
We  see  every  day  and  everywhere  those  who  affect  divine 
aid.  Ko  act  is  so  easy  as  to  deceive  one's  self.  If  you 
propose  a  spiritual  moral  system,  and  claim  for  it  a  divine 
authority,  show  your  authority  by  a  divine  work  —  a  work 
impossible  to  man  —  and  we  will  then  admit  your  claims. 
But  your  own  inward  convictions  alone,  sincere  as  they 
may  be,  and  possibly  founded  in  truth,  pass  with  us  for 
nothing.  Eaise  one  that  was  dead  to  life,  and  we  will  be 
lieve  you  when  you  reveal  to  us  the  spiritual  world  and 
the  life  to  come. '  * 

"  I  think, "  said  Julia,  "  such  would  be  the  process  in  my 
own  mind.  There  seems  the  same  natural  and  necessary 
connection  here  between  spiritual  truths  and  outward  acts, 
as  between  the  forms  of  letters  or  the  sound  of  words  and 
ideas.  We  receive  the  most  subtle  of  Plato's  reasonings 
through  words  —  those  miracles  of  material  help  —  which 
address  themselves  to  the  eye  or  ear.  So  we  receive  the 
truths  of  Jesus  through  the  eye  witnessing  his  works,  or 
the  ear  hearing  the  voice  from  heaven.  But  we  wander 
from  Macer,  in  whom,  from  what  you  have  told  us,  and 
Piso  has  known,  we  both  feel  deeply  interested.  Can  he 
not  be  drawn  away  from  these  fancies  which  possess  him  ? 
'T  is  a  pity  we  should  lose  so  strong  an  advocate,  to  some 
minds  so  resistless ;  nor  only  that,  but  suffer  injury  from 
his  extravagance. " 

"  It  is  our  purpose, "  I  replied,  "  to  visit  him,  to  try 
what  effect  earnest  remonstrance  and  appeal  may  have. 
Soon  as  I  shall  return  from  my  promised  and  now  neces 
sary  visit  to  Marcus  and  Lucilia,  I  shall  not  fail,  Probus, 
to  request  you  to  accompany  me  to  his  dwelling. " 

"  Does  he  dwell  far  from  us  ?  "  asked  Julia. 

"  His  house,  if  house  it  may  be  called, "  replied  Probus, 
"  is  in  a  narrow  street,  which  runs  just  behind  the  shop  of 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  87 

Demetrius,  midway  between  the  Capitol  and  the  Quirinal. 
It  is  easily  found  by  first  passing  the  shop  and  then  de 
scending  quick  to  the  left,  —  the  street  Janus,  our  friend 
Isaac's  street,  turning  off  at  the  same  point  to  the  right. 
At  Macer's,  should  your  feet  ever  be  drawn  that  way,  you 
would  see  how  and  in  what  crowded  space  the  poor  live  in 
Eome.  " 

"  Has  he  then  a  family,  as  your  words  seem  to  imply  ? " 

"  He  has ;  and  one  more  lovely  dwells  not  within  the 
walls  of  Eome.  In  his  wife  and  elder  children,  as  I  have 
informed  Piso,  we  shall  find  warm  and  eloquent  advocates 
on  our  side.  They  tremble  for  their  husband  and  father, 
whom  they  reverence  and  love,  knowing  his  impetuosity, 
his  fearlessness,  and  his  zeal.  Many  an  assault  has  he 
already  brought  upon  himself,  and  is  destined  I  fear  to 
draw  down  many  more  and  heavier. " 

"  Heaven  shield  them  from  all  harm  !  "  said  Julia.  "  Are 
they  known  to  Demetrius  ?  His  is  a  benevolent  heart,  and 
he  would  rejoice  to  do  them  a  service.  No  one  is  better 
known,  too,  or  respected,  than  the  Koman  Demetrius ;  his 
name,  merely,  would  be  a  protection.  " 

"  It  was  from  Macer, "  replied  Probus,  "  that  Demetrius 
first  heard  the  truth  which  now  holds  him  captive.  Their 
near  neighbourhood  brought  them  often  together.  Deme 
trius  was  impressed  by  the  ardour  and  evident  sincerity  so 
visible  in  the  conversation  and  manners  of  Macer;  and 
Macer  was  drawn  towards  Demetrius  by  the  cast  of  mel 
ancholy —  that  sober  thoughtful  air  —  that  separates  him 
so  from  his  mercurial  brother,  and  indeed  from  all.  He 
wished  he  were  a  Christian ;  and  by  happy  accidents  being 
thrown  together  —  or  rather  drawn  by  some  secret  bond  of 
attraction  —  he  in  no  long  time  had  the  happiness  to  see 
him  one.  From  the  hand  of  Felix  he  received  the  waters 
of  baptism. " 

"  What  you  have  said,  Probus,  gives  me  great  pleasure. 
I  am  not  only  now  sure  that  Macer  and  his  little  tribe  have 
a  friend  at  hand,  but  the  knowledge  that  such  a  mind  as 
that  of  Demetrius  has  been  wrought  upon  by  Macer  has 


88  LETTERS  EROM  ROME. 

served  to  raise  him  in  my  esteem  and  respect.  He  can  be 
no  common  man,  and  surely  no  madman.  " 

"  The  world  ever  loves  to  charge  those  as  mad, "  said 
Probus,  "  who,  in  devotion  to  a  great  cause,  exceed  its  cold 
standard  of  moderation.  Singular,  that  excess  in  virtue 
should  incur  this  reproach,  while  excess  in  vice  is  held 
but  as  a  weakness  of  our  nature !  " 

We  were  here  interrupted  by  Milo,  who  came  to  conduct 
us  to  the  supper-room ;  and  there  our  friendly  talk  was  pro 
longed  far  into  the  evening. 

When  I  next  write  I  shall  have  somewhat  to  say  of  Mar 
cus,  Lucilia,  and  the  little  Gallus.  How  noble  and  generous 
in  the  queen,  her  magnificent  gift !  When  summer  comes 
round  again  I  shall  not  fail,  together  with  Julia,  to  see 
you  there.  How  many  recollections  will  come  thronging 
upon  me  when  I  shall  again  find  myself  in  the  court  of  the 
Elephant,  sitting  where  I  once  sat  so  often  and  listened  to 
the  voice  of  Longinus.  May  you  see  there  many  happy 
years.  Farewell. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  sensation  caused  in  Rome  by 
the  voice  heard  at  the  dedication,  and  among  the  adherents 
of  the  popular  faith,  by  the  unlucky  omens  of  the  day  and 
of  the  sacrifice.  My  office  at  that  time  called  me  often  to 
the  capital  and  to  the  palace  of  Aurelian,  and  threw  me  fre 
quently  into  his  company  and  that  of  Livia.  My  presence 
was  little  heeded  by  the  emperor,  who,  of  a  bold  and  manly 
temper,  spoke  out  with  little  reserve  and  with  no  disguise 
or  fear,  whatever  sentiments  possessed  him.  From  such 
opportunities,  and  from  communications  of  Menestheus, 
the  secretary  of  Aurelian,  little  took  place  at  the  palace 
which  came  not  to  my  knowledge.  The  morning  succeed 
ing  the  dedication  I  had  come  to  the  city,  bringing  a  packet 
from  the  queen  to  the  Empress  Livia.  While  I  waited  in 
the  common  reception-room  of  the  palace  I  took,  from  a 
case  standing  there,  a  roll,  and  read.  As  I  read,  I  pres 
ently  was  roused  by  the  sound  of  Aurelian 's  voice.  It  was 
as  if  engaged  in  earnest  conversation.  He  soon  entered 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  89 

the  apartment,  accompanied  by  the  priest  of  the  new 
temple. 

"  There  is  something, "  he  said,  as  he  drew  near,  "  in  this 
combination  of  unlucky  signs  that  might  appal  a  stouter 
spirit  than  mine.  This,  too,  after  a  munificence  towards 
not  only  one,  but  all  the  temples  never,  I  am  sure,  sur 
passed.  Every  god  has  been  propitiated  by  gifts  and  ap 
propriate  rites.  How  can  all  this  be  interpreted  other  than 
most  darkly,  —  other  than  as  a  general  hostility,  and  a 
discouragement  from  an  enterprise  upon  which  I  would 
found  my  glory  ?  This  has  come  most  unlooked  for.  I 
confess  myself  perplexed.  I  have  openly  proclaimed  my 
purpose ;  the  word  has  gone  abroad  and  travelled  by  this 
to  the  court  of  Persia  itself,  that  with  all  Rome  at  my  back 
I  am  once  more  to  tempt  the  deserts  of  the  East. " 

He  here  suddenly  paused,  being  reminded  by  Fronto  of 
my  presence. 

"  Ah !  it  matters  not, "  he  said ;  "  this  is  but  Nichoma- 
chus,  the  good  servant  of  the  Queen^of  Palmyra.  I  hope, " 
he  said,  turning  to  me,  "  that  the  queen  is  well,  and  the 
young  Faustula  ? " 

"  They  are  well, "  I  replied. 

"  How  agree  with  her  these  cooler  airs  of  the  West  ? 
These  are  not  the  breezes  of  Arabia  that  come  to-day  from 
the  mountains. " 

"  She  heeds  them  little, "  I  replied ;  "  her  thoughts  are 
engrossed  by  heavier  cares. " 

"  They  must  be  fewer  now  than  ever.  " 

"  They  are  fewer,  but  they  are  heavier,  and  weigh  upon 
her  life  more  than  the  whole  East  once  did.  The  remem 
brance  of  a  single  great  disaster  weighs  as  a  heavier  burden 
than  the  successful  management  of  an  empire.  " 

"  True,  Nichomachus,  that  is  over  true.  "  Then,  without 
further  regarding  me,  he  went  on  with  his  conversation 
with  Fronto. 

"  I  cannot, "  he  said,  "  now  *go  back ;  and  to  go  forward 
may  be  presumptuous. " 

"  I  cannot  but  believe,  great  emperor, "  said  Fronto,  "  that 


90  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

I  have  it  in  my  power  to  resolve  your  doubts,  and  set  your 
mind  at  ease. " 

"  Best  not,  then, "  said  Aurelian,  with  impatience,  "  but 
say  on.  " 

"  You  sought  the  gods  and  read  the  omens  with  but  one 
prayer  and  thought.  And  you  have  construed  them  as  all 
bearing  upon  one  point  and  having  one  significancy,  —  be 
cause  you  have  looked  in  no  other  direction.  I  believe 
they  bear  upon  a  different  point,  and  that  when  you  look 
behind  and  before  you  will  be  of  the  same  judgment. " 

"  Whither  tends  all  this  ?  " 

"To  this, —  that  the  omens  of  the  day  bear  not  upon 
your  Eastern  expedition,  but  upon  the  new  religion  !  You 
are  warned  as  the  great  high-priest,  by  these  signs  in 
heaven  and  on  earth,  not  against  this  projected  expedition, 
—  which  is  an  act  of  piety,  if  a  warlike  expedition  ever 
may  be  termed  so,  —  but  against  this  accursed  superstition 
which  is  working  its  way  into  the  empire,  and  threatening 
the  extermination  an<J  overthrow  of  the  very  altars  on 
which  you  laid  your  costly  offerings.  What  concern  can 
the  divinities  feel  in  the  array  of  an  army,  compared  with 
that  which  must  agitate  their  sacred  breasts  as  they  behold 
their  altars  cast  down  or  forsaken,  their  names  profaned, 
their  very  being  denied,  their  worshippers  drawn  from 
them  to  the  secret  midnight  orgies  of  a  tribe  of  atheists, 
whose  aim  is  anarchy  in  the  state  and  in  religion;  owning 
neither  king  on  earth  nor  king  in  heaven,  —  every  man  to 
be  his  own  priest,  every  man  his  own  master?  Is  not 
this  the  likeliest  reading  of  the  omens  ?  " 

"  I  confess,  Fronto, "  the  emperor  replied,  the  cloud  upon 
his  brow  clearing  away  as  he  spoke,  "  that  what  you  say 
possesses  likelihood.  I  believe  I  have  interpreted  accord 
ing  to  my  fears.  It  is  as  you  say ;  the  East  only  has  been 
in  my  thoughts.  It  cannot  in  reason  be  thought  to  be  this 
enterprise,  which,  as  you  have  said,  is  an  act  of  piety  — 
all  Rome  would  judge  it  so  —  against  which  the  heavens 
have  thus  arrayed  themselves.  Fronto !  Fronto !  I  am 
another  man  !  Slave, "  cried  he  aloud  to  one  of  the  menials 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  91 

as  he  passed,  "  let  Mucapor  be  instantly  summoned.  Let 
there  be  no  delay.  Now  can  my  affairs  be  set  on  with 
something  more  of  speed.  When  the  gods  srnile,  moun 
tains  sink  to  molehills.  A  divine  energy  runs  in  the  cur 
rent  of  the  blood  and  lends  more  than  mortal  force  to  the 
arm  and  the  will.  " 

As  he  spoke,  never  did  so  malignant  a  joy  light  up  the 
human  countenance  as  was  to  be  seen  in  the  face  of  Fronto. 

"  And  what,  then, "  he  hastily  put  in,  as  the  emperor 
paused,  :<  what  shall  be  done  with  these  profane  wretches  ?  " 

"  The  Christians  ?  they  must  be  seen  to.  I  will  con 
sider.  Now,  Fronto,  shall  I  fill  to  the  brim  the  cup  of 
human  glory.  Now  shall  Eome  by  me  vindicate  her  lost 
honour  and  wipe  off  the  foulest  stain  that  since  the  time  of 
Romulus  has  darkened  her  annals.  " 

"  You  will  do  yourself  and  the  empire  immortal  honour. 
If  danger  ever  threatened  the  very  existence  of  the  state,  it 
is  now,  from  the  secret  machinations  of  this  god-denying 
tribe. " 

"  I  spake  of  the  East  and  of  Valerian,  Fronto.  Syria  is 
now  Rome's.  Palmyra,  that  mushroom  of  a  day,  is  level 
with  the  ground.  Her  life  is  out.  She  will  be  hereafter 
known  but  by  the  fame  of  her  past  greatness,  of  her  match 
less  queen,  and  the  glory  of  the  victories  that  crowned  the 
arms  of  Aurelian.  What  now  remains  but  Persia  ?  " 

"  The  Christians, "  said  the  priest,  shortly  and  bitterly. 

"  You  are  right,  Fronto ;  the  omens  are  not  be  read 
otherwise.  It  is  against  them  they  point.  It  shall  be  ma 
turely  weighed  what  shall  be  done.  When  Persia  is  swept 
from  the  field,  and  Ctesiphon  lies  as  low  as  Palmyra,  then 
will  I  restore  the  honour  of  the  gods,  and  let  who  will 
dare  to  worship  other  than  as  I  shall  ordain !  Whoever 
worships  them  not,  or  other  than  them,  shall  die. " 

"  In  that  spoke  the  chief  minister  of  religion,  the  rep 
resentative  of  the  gods.  The  piety  of  Aurelian  is  in  the 
mouths  of  men  not  less  than  his  glory.  The  city  re 
sounds  with  the  praise  of  him  who  has  enriched  the 
temples,  erected  new  ones,  made  new  provision  for  the 


92  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 


priesthood,  and  fed  the  poor.  This  is  the  best  greatness. 
Posterity  will  rather  honour  and  remember  him  who  saved 
them  their  faith,  than  him  who  gained  a  Persian  victory. 
The  victory  for  religion,  too,  is  to  be  had  without  cost, 
without  a  step  taken  from  the  palace  gate,  or  from  the  side 
of  her  who  is  alike  Aurelian's  and  the  empire's  boast. " 

"  Nay,  nay,  Fronto,  you  are  over  zealous.  This  Eastern 
purpose  admits  not  of  delay.  Hormisdas  is  new  in  his 
power.  The  people  are  restless  and  divided.  The  present 
is  the  moment  of  success.  It  cannot  bear  delay  To 
morrow,  could  it  be  so,  would  I  start  for  Thrace.  The 
heavens  are  propitious.  They  frown  no  longer.  " 

"  The  likeliest  way,  methinks, "  replied  the  priest,  "  to 
insure  success,  and  the  continued  favour  of  the  gods  in 
that  which  they  do  not  forbid,  were  first  to  fulfil  their 
commands  in  what  they  have  enjoined. " 

"  That,  Fronto,  cannot  be  denied.  It  is  of  weight.  But 
where  of  two  commands  both  seem  alike  urgent,  and  both 
cannot  be  done  at  once,  whether  we  will  or  not,  we  must 
choose,  and  in  choosing  we  may  err. " 

"  To  an  impartial,  pious  mind,  O  emperor,  the  god  of 
thy  worship  never  shone  more  clear  in  the  heavens  than 
shines  his  will  in  the  terrific  signs  of  yesterday.  Forgive 
thy  servant ;  but  drawn  as  thou  art  by  the  image  of  fresh 
laurels  of  victory  to  be  bound  about  thy  brow,  of  the  rich 
spoils  of  Persia,  of  its  mighty  monarch  at  thy  chariot- 
wheels,  and  the  long  line  of  a  new  triumph  sweeping 
through  the  gates,  and  the  great  heart  of  the  capital, — 
thou  art  blind  to  the  will  of  the  gods,  though  written  in 
the  dread  convulsions  of  the  elements,  and  the  unerring 
language  of  the  slaughtered  victims. " 

"  Both  may  be  done,  —  both,  Fronto.  I  blame  not  your 
zeal.  Your  freedom  pleases  me.  Keligion  is  thus,  I  know, 
in  good  hands.  But  both,  I  say,  may  be  done.  The  care 
of  the  empire  in  this  its  other  part  may  be  left  to  thee 
and  Varus,  with  full  powers  to  see  that  the  state  in  the 
matter  of  its  faith  receives  no  harm.  Your  knowledge 
in  this,  if  not  your  zeal,  is  more  than  mine.  While  I 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  93 

meet  the  enemies  of  Eome  abroad,  you  shall  be  my  other 
self,  and  gain  other  victories  at  home. " 

"  Little,  I  fear,  Aurelian,  could  be  done  even  by  me  and 
Varus  leagued,  with  full  delegated  powers,  opposed  as  we 
should  be  by  Tacitus  and  the  senate,  and  the  best  half  of 
Eome.  None  but  an  arm  omnipotent  as  thine  can  crush 
this  mischief.  I  see  thou  knowest  not  how  deep  it  has 
struck,  nor  how  wide  it  has  spread.  The  very  foundations 
of  the  throne  and  the  empire  are  undermined.  The  poison 
of  Christian  atheism  has  infected  the  whole  mind  of  the 
people,  not  only  throughout  Eome,  but  Italy,  Gaul,  Africa, 
and  Asia.  And  for  this  we  have  to  thank  whom  ?  Whom 
but  ourselves  ?  Ever  since  Hadrian  —  otherwise  a  patriot 
king  —  built  his  imageless  temples,  in  imitation  of  this 
barren  and  lifeless  worship  ;  ever  since  the  weak  Alexander 
and  his  superstitious  mother  filled  the  imperial  palace  with 
their  statues  of  Christ,  with  preachers  and  teachers  of  his 
religion ;  ever  since  the  Philips  openly  and  without  shame 
professed  his  faith ;  ever,  I  say,  since  these  great  examples 
have  been  before  the  world,  has  the  ancient  religion  de 
clined  its  head,  and  the  new  stalked  proudly  by.  Let  not 
Aurelian 's  name  be  added  to  this  fatal  list.  Let  him  first 
secure  the  honour  of  the  gods;  then,  and  not  till  then, 
seek  his  own. " 

"  You  urge  with  warmth,  Fronto,  and  with  reason,  too. 
Your  words  are  not  wasted :  they  have  fallen  where  they 
shall  be  deeply  pondered.  In  the  mean  time  I  will  wait 
for  the  judgment  of  the  augurs  and  haruspices ;  and  as  the 
colleges  report  will  hold  myself  bound  so  to  act. " 

So  they  conversed,  and  then  passed  on.  I  was  at  that 
time  but  little  conversant  with  the  religious  condition  of 
the  empire.  I  knew  but  little  of  the  character  of  the  pre 
vailing  faith,  and  the  Pagan  priesthood ;  and  I  knew  less 
of  the  new  religion,  as  it  was  termed.  But  the  instincts 
of  my  heart  were  from  the  gods,  and  they  were  all  for 
humanity.  I  loved  man,  whoever  he  was,  and  of  what 
ever  name  or  faith ;  and  I  sickened  at  cruelties  perpetrated 
against  him,  both  in  war  and  by  the  bloody  spirit  of  super- 


94  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

stition.  I  burned  with  indignation,  therefore,  as  I  lis 
tened  to  the  cold-blooded  arguings  of  the  bigoted  priest, 
and  wept  to  see  how  artfully  he  could  warp  aside  the  better 
nature  of  Aurelian,  and  pour  his  own  venom  into  veins 
that  had  else  run  with  human  blood,  at  least  not  the  pois 
oned  current  of  tigers,  wolves,  and  serpents,  of  every  name 
and  nature  most  vile.  My  hope  was  that,  away  from  his 
prompter,  and  the  first  purpose  of  Aurelian  would  return 
and  have  its  way. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  95 


LETTEK  V. 

FROM   PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

THE  GLADIATORS.  —  VISIT  TO  MARCUS  AND  LUCILIA.  —  GALLUS. 
—  A  GREAT  GRIEF.  —  AURELIA.  —  NICHOMACHUS  RELATES  A 
CONVERSATION. 

I  AM  now  returned  from  my  long-intended  visit  to  the 
villa  of  Marcus,  and  have  much  to  say  concerning  it. 

But  first  of  all  rejoice  with  me  in  a  fresh  demonstration 
of  good-will  on  the  part  of  Aurelian  towards  Zenobia.  And 
what  think  you  it  is  ?  Nothing  less  than  this,  that  Vaba- 
lathus  has  been  made,  by  Aurelian  and  the  senate,  king  of 
Armenia !  The  kingdom  is  not  large,  but  large  enough  for 
him  at  his  present  age ;  if  he  shall  show  himself  compe 
tent,  additions  doubtless  will  be  made.  Our  only  regret 
is,  that  the  queen  loses  thus  his  presence  with  her  at 
Tibur.  He  had  become  to  his  mother  all  that  a  son  should 
be.  Not  that  in  respect  to  native  force  he  could  ever  make 
good  the  loss  of  Julia,  or  even  of  Livia,  but  that  in  all  the 
many  offices  which  an  affectionate  child  would  render  to  a 
parent  in  the  changed  circumstances  of  Zenobia,  he  has 
proved  a  solace  and  a  support. 

The  second  day  from  the  dedication,  passing  through  the 
Porta  Asinaria,  with  Milo  at  my  side,  I  took  the  road  that 
winds  along  the  hither  bank  of  the  Tiber  and  leads  most 
pleasantly,  if  not  most  directly,  to  the  seat  of  my  friends ; 
and  you  are  well  aware  how  willingly  I  sacrifice  a  little 
time  on  the  way,  if  by  doing  so  I  can  more  than  make  up 
the  loss  by  obtaining  brighter  glimpses  of  earth  and  sky. 
Had  I  not  found  Christianity,  Fausta,  this  would  have 
been  my  religion.  I  should  have  forsaken  the  philoso 
phers  and  gone  forth  into  the  fields  among  the  eternal 


96  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

hills,  upon  the  banks  of  the  river  or  the  margin  of  the 
ever-flowing  ocean,  and  in  the  lessons  there  silently  read 
to  me,  I  should,  I  think,  have  arrived  at  some  very  firm 
and  comfortable  faith  in  God  and  immortality.  And  I  am 
especially  happy  in  this,  that  nature  in  no  way  loses  its 
interest  or  value,  because  I  now  draw  truth  from  a  more 
certain  source.  I  take  the  same  pleasure  as  before  in  ob 
serving  and  contemplating  her  various  forms,  and  the 
clearer  light  of  Christianity  brings  to  view  a  thousand 
beauties  to  which  before  I  was  insensible ;  just  as  in  read 
ing  a  difficult  author,  although  you  may  have  reached  his 
sense  in  some  good  degree  unaided,  yet  a  judicious  com 
mentator  points  out  excellences  and  unfolds  truths  which 
you  had  either  wholly  overlooked  or  but  imperfectly 
comprehended. 

All  without  the  city  walls,  as  within,  bore  witness  to 
the  graciousness  of  the  emperor  in  the  prolonged  holiday 
he  had  granted  the  people.  It  was  as  if  the  Saturnalia  had 
arrived.  Industry,  such  as  there  ever  is,  was  suspended ; 
all  were  sitting  idle,  or  thronging  some  game,  or  gathering 
in  noisy  groups  about  some  mountebank.  As  we  ad 
vanced  farther,  and  came  just  beyond  the  great  road  lead 
ing  to  Tibur,  we  passed  the  school  of  the  celebrated 
gladiator  Sosia,  at  the  door  of  which  there  had  just  arrived 
from  the  amphitheatre  a  cart  bearing  home  the  bodies  of 
such  as  had  been  slain  the  preceding  day,  presenting  a  dis 
gusting  spectacle  of  wounds,  bruises,  and  flowing  blood. 

"  There  was  brave  fighting  yesterday, "  said  Milo ; 
"  these  are  but  a  few  out  of  all  that  fell.  The  first  day's 
sport  was  a  hundred  of  the  trained  gladiators,  most  of 
them  from  the  school  of  Sosia,  set  against  a  hundred 
picked  captives  of  all  nations.  Not  less  than  half  of  each 
number  got  it.  These  fellows  look  as  if  they  had  done 
their  best.  You've  fought  your  last  battle,  old  boys,  unless 
you  have  a  bout  with  Charon,  who  will  be  loath,  I  warrant 
you  beforehand,  to  ferry  over  such  a  slashed  and  swollen 
company.  Now  ought  you  in  charity,"  he  continued, 
addressing  a  half-naked  savage  who  was  helping  to  drag 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  97 

the  bodies  from  the  cart,  "  to  have  these  trunks  well  washed 
ere  you  bury  them,  or  pitch  them  into  the  Tiber,  else  they 
will  never  get  over  the  Styx ;  not  forgetting  too  the  ferry- 
age — ,"  What  more  folly  he  would  have  uttered  I  know 
not,  for  the  wretch  to  whom  he  spoke  suddenly  seized  the 
lash  of  the  driver  of  the  cart  and  laid  it  ovar  Milo's 
shoulders,  saying,  as  he  did  it,— 

"  Off,  fool,  or  my  fist  shall  do  for  you  what  it  did  for  one 
of  these.  " 

The  bystanders  at  this  set  up  a  hoarse  shouting,  one  of 
them  exclaiming  so  that  I  could  hear  him,— 

"  There  goes  the  Christian  Piso  —  we  or  the  lions  will 
have  a  turn  at  him  yet.  These  are  the  fellows  that  spoil 
our  trade.  " 

"  Never  mind, "  replied  another ;  "  if  report  goes  true, 
they  won't  spoil  it  long." 

No  rank  and  no  power  is  secure  against  the  affronts  of 
this  lawless  tribe ;  they  are  a  sort  of  licensed  brawlers, 
their  brutal  and  inhuman  trade  rendering  them  insensible 
to  all  fear  from  any  quarter.  Death  is  to  them  but  as  a 
scratch  on  the  finger;  they  care  not  for  it  when  or  how  it 
comes.  The  slightest  cause,  a  passing  word,  a  look,  a  mo 
tion  is  enough  to  inflame  their  ferocious  passions  and  bring 
on  quarrel  and  murder.  Eiot  and  death  are  daily  occur 
rences  in  the  neighbourhood  of  these  schools  of  trained 
assassins.  Milo  knew  their  character  well  enough,  but  he 
deemed  himself  to  be  uttering  somewhat  that  should  amuse 
rather  than  enrage,  and  was  mortified  rather  than  terrified, 
I  believe,  at  the  sudden  application  of  the  lash.  The  un 
feigned  surprise  he  manifested,  together  with  the  quick 
leap  which  his  horse  made,  who  partook  of  the  blow,  was 
irresistibly  ludicrous.  He  was  nearly  thrown  off  back 
wards  in  the  speed  of  his  horse's  flight  along  the  road.  It 
was  sometime  before  I  overtook  him. 

"  Intermeddling, "  I  said  to  Milo,  as  I  came  up  with 
him,  "  is  a  dangerous  vice.  How  feel  your  shoulders  ?  " 

"  I  shall  remember  that  one-eyed  butcher,  and  if  there 
be  virtue  in  hisses  or  in  thumbs,  he  shall  rue  the  hour  he 

7 


98  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

laid  a  lash  on  Gallienus.  Poor  fellow !  Whose  horseman 
ship  is  equal  to  such  an  onset.  I'll  haunt  the  theatre  till 
rny  chance  come. " 

"  Well,  well,  let  us  forget  this.  How  went  the  games 
yesterday  ?  " 

"  Never,  as  I  hear, "  he  said,  "  and  as  I  remember,  were 
they  more  liberal  or  more  magnificent.  Larger,  or  more 
beautiful,  or  finer  beasts,  neither  Asia  nor  Africa  ever  sent 
over.  They  fought  as  if  they  had  been  trained  to  it,  like 
these  scholars  of  Sosia,  and  in  most  cases  they  bore  away 
the  palm  from  them.  How  many  of  Sosia's  men  exactly 
fell,  it  is  not  known,  but  not  fewer  than  threescore  men 
were  either  torn  in  pieces  or  rescued  too  much  lacerated  to 
fight  more. " 

"  What  captives  were  sacrificed  ?  " 

"  I  did  not  learn  of  what  nation  they  were,  nor  how 
many.  All  I  know  is  what  I  witnessed  toward  the  end  of 
the  sport.  Never  before  did  I  behold  such  a  form,  nor 
such  feats  of  strength !  He  was  another  Hercules.  It  was 
rumoured  he  was  from  the  forests  of  Germany.  If  you 
will  believe  it,  which  I  scarce  can  though  I  saw  it,  he 
fought  successively  with  six  of  Sosia's  best  men,  and  one 
after  another  laid  them  all  sprawling.  A  seventh  was  then 
set  upon  him,  he  having  no  time  to  breathe  or  even  drink. 
Many,  however,  cried  out  against  this.  But  Romans,  you 
know,  like  not  to  have  their  fun  spoiled,  so  the  seventh 
was  not  taken  off.  As  every  one  foresaw,  this  was  too 
much  by  just  one  for  the  hero ;  but  he  fought  desperately, 
and  it  is  believed  Sosia's  man  got  pushes  he  will  never  re 
cover  from.  He  was  soon,  however,  on  his  knees,  and  then 
on  his  back,  the  sword  of  his  antagonist  at  his  throat,  he 
lying  like  a  gasping  fish  at  his  mercy,  — who  awaited  the 
pleasure  of  the  spectators  a  moment  before  he  struck. 
Then  was  there  a  great  shouting  all  over  the  theatre  in  his 
behalf,  besides  making  the  sign  to  spare  him.  But  just  at 
the  moment,  as  for  him  ill  fortune  would  have  it,  some 
poltroon  cried  out,  with  a  voice  that  went  all  over  the 
theatre,  '  The  dog  is  a  Christian ! '  Whereupon,  like  light- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  99 

ning,  every  thumb  went  up,  and  down  plunged  the  sword 
into  his  neck.  So,  master,  thou  seest,  what  I  tell  thee  every 
day,  there  is  small  virtue  in  being  a  Christian.  It  is  every 
way  dangerous.  If  a  thief  runs  through  the  streets,  the 
cry  is,  'A  Christian  !  a  Christian  ! '  If  a  man  is  murdered, 
they  who  did  it  accuse  some  neighbouring  Christian,  and  he 
dies  for  it.  If  a  Christian  fall  into  the  Tiber,  men  look  on 
as  on  a  drowning  dog.  If  he  slip  or  fall  in  a  crowd,  they 
will  help  to  trample  him  to  death.  If  he  is  sick  or  poor, 
none  but  his  own  tribe  will  help  him.  Even  the  Jew  de 
spises  him,  and  spits  upon  his  gown  as  he  passes.  What 
but  the  love  of  contempt  and  death  can  make  one  a  Chris 
tian,  't  is  hard  to  see.  Had  that  captive  been  other  than  a 
Christian,  he  would  not  have  fallen  as  he  did. " 

"  Very  likely.  But  the  Christians,  you  know,  frequent 
not  the  amphitheatre.  Had  they  been  there  in  their  just 
proportion  to  the  rest,  the  voice  would  at  least  have  been  a 
divided  one.  " 

"  Nay,  as  for  that, "  he  rejoined,  "  there  were  some  stout 
voices  raised  in  his  behalf  to  the  last,  and  some  thumbs 
down,  but  too  few  to  be  regarded.  But  even  in  the  streets, 
where  all  sorts  are  found,  there  is  none  to  take  the  Chris 
tian's  part —  unless  it  be  that  old  gashed  soldier  of  the 
fifth  legion,  who  stalks  through  the  streets  as  though  all 
Eome  were  his.  By  the  gods,  I  believe  he  would  beard 
Aurelian  himself!  He  will  stand  at  a  corner  in  some 
public  place  and  preach  to  the  crowds,  and  give  never  an 
inch  for  all  their  curses  and  noise.  They  fear  him  too 
much,  I  believe,  to  attack  him  with  aught  but  words. 
And  I  wonder  not  at  it.  A  few  days  since  a  large  dog 
was,  in  wicked  wantonness,  as  I  must  allow,  set  upon  a  poor 
Christian  boy.  Macer  —  so  he  is  called  about  the  city  —  at 
the  moment  came  up.  Never  tiger  seized  his  prey  as  he 
seized  that  dog,  and  first  dashing  out  his  brains  upon  the 
pavement,  pursued  then  the  persecutors  of  the  boy  and  beat 
them  to  jelly  with  the  carcass  of  the  beast,  and  then  walked 
away  unmolested,  leading  the  child  to  his  home.  " 

"  Men  reverence  courage,  Milo,  everywhere  and  in  all.  " 


100  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  That  do  they.  It  was  so  with  me  once  when 
Gallienus  —  " 

"  Gallop,  Milo,  to  that  milestone,  and  report  to  me  how 
far  we  have  come.  " 

I  still  as  ever  extract  much,  Fausta,  from  my  faithful 
if  foolish  slave. 

In  due  time,  and  without  hindrance  or  accident,  I 
reached  the  outer  gate  of  my  friend's  villa. 

The  gate  was  opened  by  Coelia,  whose  husband  is  pro 
moted  to  the  place  of  porter.  Her  face  shone  as  she  saw 
me,  and  she  hastened  to  assure  me  that  all  were  well  at  the 
house,  holding  up,  at  the  same  moment,  a  curly-headed 
boy  for  me  to  admire,  whom,  with  a  blush  and  a  faltering 
tongue,  she  called  Lucius.  I  told  her  I  was  pleased  with 
the  name,  for  it  was  a  good  one,  and  he  should  not  suffer 
for  bearing  it  if  I  could  help  it.  Milo  thought  it  unlucky 
enough  that  it  should  be  named  after  a  Christian,  and  I 
am  certain  has  taken  occasion  to  remonstrate  with  its 
mother  on  the  subject;  but  as  you  may  suppose,  did  not 
succeed  in  infusing  his  own  terrors. 

I  was  first  met  by  Lucilia,  who  received  me  with  her 
usual  heartiness.  Marcus  was  out  on  some  remote  part  of 
the  estate  overseeing  his  slaves.  In  a  few  moments,  by  the 
assiduous  Lucilia  and  her  slaves,  I  was  brushed  and  washed, 
and  set  down  to  a  table  —  though  it  was  so  few  hours  since 
I  had  left  Home  —  covered  with  bread,  honey,  butter,  and 
olives,  a  cold  capon  with  salads,  and  wine  such  as  the 
cellars  of  Marcus  alone  can  furnish.  As  the  only  way  in 
which  to  keep  the  good  opinon  of  Lucilia  is  to  eat,  I  ate 
of  all  that  was  on  the  table,  she  assuring  me  that  every 
thing  was  from  their  own  grounds,  —  the  butter  made  by 
her  own  hands ;  and  that  I  might  search  Rome  in  vain  for 
better.  This  I  readily  admitted.  Indeed  no  butter  is  like 
hers,  so  yellow  and  so  hard,  nor  bread  so  light  and  so 
white.  Even  her  honey  is  more  delicious  than  what  I  find 
elsewhere,  the  bees  knowing  by  instinct  whom  they  are 
working  for;  and  the  poultry  is  fatter  and  tenderer,  the 
hens  being  careful  never  to  over-fatigue  themselves,  and 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  101 

the  peacocks  and  the  geese  not  to'  'exhaust'  themselves  in 
screaming  and  cackling.  All  nature,  alive  and  dead,  takes 
upon  itself  a  trimmer  and  more  perfect  seeming  within  her 
influences.  I  had  sat  thus  gossiping  with  Lucilia,  enjoy 
ing  the  balmy  breezes  of  a  warm  autumn  day,  as  they  drew 
through  the  great  hall  of  the  house,  when,  preceded  by  the 
bounding  Gallus,  the  master  of  the  house  entered  in  field- 
dress  of  broad  sun-hat,  open  neck,  close  coat  depending  to 
the  knees,  and  boots  that  brought  home  with  them  the 
spoils  of  many  a  well-ploughed  field. 

"Well,  Sir  Christian,"  he  cried,  "  I  joy  to  see  thee, 
although  thus  recreant.  But  how  is  it  that  thou  lookest  as 
ever  before?  Are  not  these  vanities* of  silk,  and  gold,  and 
fine  clothes,  renounced  by  those  of  the  new  religion.  Your 
appearance  says  nay,  and  by  Jupiter !  wine  has  been  drunk 
already !  Nay  nay,  Lucilia,  it  was  hardly  a  pagan  act  to 
tempt  our  strict  friend  with  that  Falernian. " 

"  Falernian  is  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  of  the  vintage  of  the  fourth  of  Gallienus.  Deli 
cious,  was  it  not?  But  by  and  by  thou  shalt  taste  some 
thing  better  than  that,  —  as  much  better  as  that  is  than 
anything  of  the  same  name  thou  didst  ever  raise  to  thy  lips 
at  the  table  of  Aurelian.  Piso,  never  was  a  face  more  wel 
come  !  Not  a  soul  has  looked  in  upon  us  for  days  and  days 
—  not,  Lucilia,  since  the  Kalends,  when  young  Flaccus, 
with  a  boat-load  of  roysterers,  dropped  down  the  river. 
But  why  comes  not  Julia  too  ?  She  could  not  leave  the 
games  and  theatres,  ha  ?  " 

"  Marcus, "  said  Lucilia,  "  you  forget  it  was  the  princess 
who  first  seduced  Lucius.  But  for  that  eastern  voyage  for 
the  Persian  Calpurnius,  Piso  would  have  been  still,  I  dare 
say,  what  his  parents  made  him.  Let  us  not  yet,  however, 
stir  this  topic;  but  first  of  all,  Lucius,  give  us  the  city 
news.  How  went  the  dedication  ?  we  have  heard  strange 
tales. " 

"  How  went  it  by  report  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Oh,  it  would  be  long  telling, "  said  Lucilia.  "  Only, 
for  one  thing,  we  heard  that  there  was  a  massacre  of  the 


102  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

Christians,  in  which  some  said  hundreds,  and  some,  thou 
sands,  fell.  For  a  moment,  I  assure  you,  we  trembled  for 
you.  The  confirmation  afforded  by  your  actual  presence, 
of  your  welfare,  is  not  unwelcome.  You  must  lay  a  part 
of  the  heartiness  of  our  reception,  especially  the  old  Faler- 
nian,  to  the  account  of  our  relieved  fears.  But  let  us 
hear.  " 

I  then  went  over  the  last  days  in  Eome,  adding  what  I 
had  been  able  to  gather  from  Milo,  when  it  was  such  that 
I  could  trust  to  it.  When  I  had  satisfied  their  curiosity, 
and  had  moreover  described  to  Lucilia  the  dresses  of  Livia 
on  so  great  an  occasion,  and  the  fashions  which  were  raging 
Marcus  proposed  that  I  should  accompany  him  over  his 
farm,  and  observe  his  additions  and  improvements,  and 
the  condition  of  his  slaves.  I  accepted  the  proposal  with 
pleasure,  and  we  soon  set  forth  on  our  ramble,  accompanied 
by  Gallus,  now  riding  his  stick,  and  now  gambolling  about 
the  lawns  and  fields  with  his  dog. 

I  like  this  retreat  of  Curtius  better  almost  than  any  other 
of  the  suburban  villas  of  our  citizens.  There  is  an  air  of 
calm  senatorial  dignity  about  it  which  modern  edifices 
want.  It  looks  as  if  it  had  seen  more  than  one  generation 
of  patrician  inhabitants.  There  is  little  unity  or  order  —  as 
those  words  are  commonly  understood  —  observable  in  the 
structure  of  the  house ;  but  it  presents  to  the  eye  an  irregu 
lar  assemblage  of  forms,  the  work  of  different  ages,  and 
built  according  to  the  taste  and  skill  of  distant  times. 
Some  portions  are  new,  some  old  and  covered  with  lichens, 
mosses,  and  creeping  plants.  Here  is  a  portico  of  the  time 
of  Trajan,  and  there  a  tower  that  seems  as  if  it  were  of  the 
times  of  the  republic.  Yet  is  there  a  certain  harmony  and 
congruity  running  through  the  whole,  for  the  material  used 
is  everywhere  the  same, —  a  certain  fawn-coloured  stone, 
drawn  from  quarries  still  existing  in  the  neighbourhood ; 
and  each  successive  owner  and  architect  has  evidently 
paid  some  regard  to  preceding  erections  in  the  design  and 
proportions  of  the  part  he  has  added.  In  this  unity  of 
character,  as  well  as  in  the  separate  beauty  or  greatness  of 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  103 

distinct  parts,  is  it  made  evident  that  persons  of  accom 
plishment  and  rank  have  alone  possessed  it.  Of  its  earlier 
history  all  that  Curtius  has  with  certainty  ascertained  is, 
that  it  was  once  the  seat  of  the  great  Hortensius,  before  he 
had  in  the  growth  of  his  fame  and  his  riches  displayed  his 
luxurious  tastes  in  the  wonders  of  Tusculum,  Bauli,  or 
Laurentum.  It  was  the  first  indication  given  by  him  of 
that  love  of  elegant  and  lavish  wastefulness  that  gave  him 
at  last  as  wide  a  celebrity  as  his  genius.  The  part  which  he 
built  is  well  known,  and  although  of  moderate  dimensions, 
yet  displays  the  rudiments  of  that  taste  that  afterwards 
was  satisfied  only  with  more  than  imperial  magnificence. 
Marcus  has  satisfied  himself  as  to  the  very  room  which  he 
occupied  as  his  study  and  library,  and  where  he  prepared 
himself  for  the  morning  courts;  and  in  the  same  apartment 
—  hoping,  as  he  says,  to  catch  something  from  the  genius 
of  the  place  —  does  he  apply  himself  to  the  same  profes 
sional  labours.  His  name  and  repute  are  now  second  to 
none  in  Eome.  Yet,  young  as  he  is,  he  begins  to  weary  of 
the  bar,  and  woo  the  more  quiet  pursuits  of  letters  and  phi 
losophy.  Nay,  at  the  present  moment,  agriculture  claims 
all  his  leisure,  and  steals  time  that  can  ill  be  spared  from 
his  clients.  Varro  and  Cato  have  more  of  his  devotion 
than  statutes  and  precedents. 

In  the  disposition  of  the  grounds,  Marcus  has  shown  that 
he  inherits  something  of  the  tastefulness  of  his  remote  pre 
decessor  ;  and  in  the  harvest  that  covers  his  extensive  acres 
gives  equal  evidence  that  he  has  studied  not  without  profit 
the  labours  of  those  who  have  written  upon  husbandry  and 
its  connected  arts.  Varro,  especially,  is  at  his  tongue's 
end. 

We  soon  came  to  the  quarter  of  the  slaves,  a  village  al 
most  of  the  humble  tenements  occupied  by  this  miserable 
class.  None  but  the  women,  children,  sick,  and  aged, 
were  now  at  home,  the  young  and  able-bodied  being  abroad 
at  work.  No  new  disturbances  have  broken  out,  he  tells 
me ;  the  former  severity,  followed  by  a  well-timed  lenity, 
having  subdued  or  conciliated  all.  Curtius,  although  fond 


104  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

of  power  and  of  all  its  ensigns,  yet  conceals  not  his  hatred 
of  this  institution  which  has  so  long  obtained  in  the 
Eoman  state  as  in  all  states.  He  can  devise  no  way  of  es 
cape  from  it ;  but  he  sees  in  it  the  most  active  and  general 
cause  of  the  corruption  of  morals  which  is  everywhere 
spread  where  it  prevails.  He  cannot  suppress  his  con 
tempt  of  the  delusion  or  hypocrisy  of  our  ancestors  in  term 
ing  themselves  republicans. 

"  What  a  monstrous  solecism  was  it, "  he  broke  out,  with 
energy,  "  in  the  times  preceding  the  empire,  to  call  that  a 
free  country  which  was  built  upon  the  degradation  and 
slavery  of  half  of  its  population.  Rome  never  was  a  re 
public.  It  was  simply  a  faction  of  land  and  slave  holders, 
who  blinded  and  befooled  the  ignorant  populace  by  parad 
ing  before  them  some  of  the  forms  of  liberty,  but  kept  the 
power  in  their  own  hands.  They  were  a  community  of 
petty  kings,  which  was  better  in  their  minds  than  only 
one  king,  as  in  the  time  of  the  Tarquins.  It  was  a  repub 
lic  of  kingdoms  and  of  kings,  if  you  will.  Now  and  then, 
indeed,  the  people  bustled  about  and  shook  their  chains, 
as  in  the  times  of  the  institution  of  the  tribune's  office  and 
those  of  the  Gracchi.  But  they  gained  nothing.  The  patri 
cians  were  still  the  kings  who  ruled  them.  And  among  no 
people  can  there  be  liberty  where  slavery  exists, —  liberty, 
I  mean,  properly  so  called.  He  who  holds  slaves  cannot, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  be  a  republican ;  but  in  the  nature 
of  things  he  is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  despot.  I  am  one. 
And  a  nation  of  such  individuals  is  an  association  of  des 
pots  for  despotic  purposes,  and  nothing  else  or  better. 
Liberty  in  their  mouths  is  a  profanation  of  the  sacred  name  ; 
it  signifies  nothing  but  their  liberty  to  reign.  I  confess  it 
is  to  those  who  happen  to  be  the  kings  a  very  agreeable 
state  of  things.  I  enjoy  my  power  and  state  mightily. 
But  I  am  not  blind  to  the  fact,  my  own  experience 
teaches  it,  that  it  is  a  state  of  things  corrupt  and  rotten 
to  the  heart,  —  destructive  everywhere  of  the  highest  form 
of  the  human  character.  It  nurses  and  brings  out  the  ani 
mal,  represses  and  embrutes  the  god  that  is  within  us.  It 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  105 

makes  of  man  a  being  of  violence,  force,  passion,  and  the 
narrowest  selfishness;  while  reason  and  humanity,  which 
should  distinguish  him,  are  degraded  or  annihilated.  Such 
men  are  not  the  stuff  that  republics  are  made  of.  A  re 
public  may  endure  for  a  time  in  spite  of  them,  owing  to 
fortunate  circumstances  of  another  kind ;  but  wherever  they 
obtain  a  preponderance  in  the  state,  liberty  will  expire,  or 
exist  only  in  the  insulting  forms  in  which  she  waved  her 
bloody  sceptre  during  most  of  our  early  history.  Slavery 
and  despotism  are  natural  allies. " 

*'  I  rejoice,"  I  said,  "  to  find  a  change  in  you,  at  least  in 
the  theory  which  you  adopt.  " 

"  I  certainly  am  changed, "  he  replied ;  "  and  such  as  the 
change  may  be,  it  is  owing,  Sir  Christian,  to  thy  calm 
and  yet  fiery  epistles  from  Palmyra.  Small  thanks  do  I 
owe  thee  for  making  me  uncomfortable  in  a  position  from 
which  I  cannot  escape.  Once  proud  of  my  slaves  and  my 
power,  I  am  already  ashamed  of  both ;  but  while  my  prin 
ciples  have  altered,  my  habits  and  character,  which  slavery 
has  created  and  nursed,  remain  beyond  any  power  of  man, 
so  far  as  I  can  see,  to  change  them.  What  they  are,  you 
well  know.  So  that  here,  in  my  middle  age,  I  suffer  a 
retribution  that  should  have  been  reserved  till  I  had  been 
dismissed  from  the  dread  tribunal  of  Ehadamanthus.  " 

"  I  see  not,  Curtius,  why  you  should  not  escape  from  the 
position  you  are  in,  if  you  sincerely  desire  it,  which  I  sup 
pose  you  do  not. " 

"  That,  —  to  be  honest,  which  at  least  I  am,  —  is,  I  be 
lieve,  the  case. " 

"  I  do  not  doubt  it.  as  it  is  with  all  who  are  situated  like 
yourself.  Most,  however,  defend  the  principle,  as  well  as 
cling  to  the  form  of  slavery.  " 

"  Nay,  that  I  cannot  do ;  that  I  never  did,  since  my  beard 
was  grown.  I  fancy  myself  to  have  from  the  gods  a  good 
heart.  He  is  essentially  of  a  corrupt  heart  who  will  stand 
for  slavery  in  its  principle.  He  is  without  anything  gen 
erous  in  his  nature.  Cold  selfishness  marks  and  makes 
him.  But  supposing  I  as  sincerely  desired  to  escape,  as  I 


106  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

sincerely  do  not,  what,  0  most  wise  mentor,  should  be  the 
manner  ?  " 

"  First,  and  at  once,  to  treat  them  no  longer  as  slaves, 
but  as  men.  " 

"  That  I  am  just  beginning  to  do.     What  else  ?  " 

"  If  you  are  sincere,  as  I  say,  and,  moreover,  if  you  pos 
sess  the  exalted  and  generous  traits  which  we  patricians 
ever  claim  for  ourselves,  show  it  them  by  giving  their  free 
dom  one  by  one  to  those  who  are  now  slaves,  even  though 
it  result  in  the  loss  of  one-half  of  your  fortune.  That  will 
be  a  patrician  act.  What  was  begun  in  crime  by  others 
cannot  be  perpetuated  without  equal  crime  in  us.  The 
enfranchised  will  soon  mingle  with  the  people ;  and,  as  we 
see  every  day,  become  one  with  it.  This  process  is  going 
on  at  this  moment  in  all  my  estates.  Before  my  will  is 
executed,  I  shall  hope  to  have  disposed  in  this  manner  of 
every  slave  in  my  possession.  " 

"  One  can  hardly  look  to  emulate  such  virtues  as  this 
new-found  Christian  philosophy  seems  to  have  engendered 
within  thy  noble  bosom,  Piso;  but  the  subject  must  be 
weighed.  There  is  nothing  so  agreeable  in  prospect  as  to 
do  right ;  but,  like  some  distant  stretches  of  land  and  hill, 
water  and  wood,  the  beauty  is  all  gone  as  it  draws  near. 
It  is  then  absolutely  a  source  of  pain  and  disgust.  I  will 
write  a  treatise  upon  the  great  theme.  " 

"  If  you  write,  Curtius,  I  shall  despair  of  any  action ; 
all  your  philanthropy  will  evaporate  in  a  cloud  of  words.  * 

"  But  that  will  be  the  way,  I  think,  to  restore  my 
equanimity.  I  believe  I  shall  feel  quite  easy  after  a  little 
declamation.  Here,  Lucius,  regale  thyself  upon  these 
grapes.  These  are  from  the  isles  of  the  Grecian  Archi 
pelago,  and  for  sweetness  are  not  equalled  by  any  of  our 
own.  Gallus  !  Gallus !  go  not  so  near  to  the  edge  of  the 
pond ;  it  is  deep,  as  I  have  warned  you.  I  have  lampreys 
there,  Piso,  bigger  than  any  that  Hortensius  ever  wept  for. 
Gallus,  you  dog,  away,  I  say. " 

But  Gallus  heeded  not  the  command  of  his  father.  He 
already  was  beginning  to  have  a  little  will  of  his  own. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  107 

He  continued  playing  upon  the  margin  of  the  water,  throw 
ing  in  sticks  for  his  dog  to  bring  to  him  again.  Perceiving 
his  danger  to  be  great,  I  went  to  him,  and  forcibly  drew 
him  away,  he  and  his  dog  setting  up  a  frightful  music  of 
screams  and  yelpings.  Marcus  was  both  entertained  and 
amazed  at  the  feat. 

"  Piso, "  he  jocosely  cried  out,  "  there  is  a  good  deal  of  the 
old  republican  in  you.  You  even  treat  free  men  as  slaves. 
That  boy  —  a  man  in  will  —  never  had  before  such  restraint 
laid  upon  his  liberty. " 

"  Liberty  with  restraint, "  I  answered,  "  operating  upon 
all,  and  equally  upon  all,  is  the  true  account  of  the  state 
of  freedom.  Gallus  unrestrained  is  a  slave, —  a  slave  of 
passion,  and  the  sport  of  chance.  He  is  not  truly  free 
until  he  is  bound. " 

With  such  talk  we  amused  ourselves  as  we  wandered 
over  the  estate,  through  its  more  wild  and  more  cultivated 
parts.  Dinner  was  presently  announced  by  a  slave  sound 
ing  at  a  distance  a  sort  of  sea-shell,  and  we  hastened  to  the 
house. 

Lucilia  awaited  us  in  a  small  six-sided  cabinet,  fitted  up 
purposely  as  a  dining-room  for  six  or  eight  persons.  It 
was  wholly  cased  with  a  rich  marble  of  a  pale-yellow  hue, 
beautifully  panelled,  having  three  windows  opening  upon 
a  long  portico  with  a  southern  aspect,  set  out  with  exotics 
in  fancifully  arranged  groups.  The  marble  panels  of  the 
room  were  so  contrived  that  at  a  touch  they  slipped  aside 
and  disclosed,  in  rich  array,  here  the  choicest  wines,  there 
sauces  and  spices  of  a  thousand  sorts,  and  there  again,  the 
rarest  confections  brought  from  China  and  the  East 
Apicius  himself  could  have  fancied  nothing  more  perfect ; 
for  the  least  dissatisfaction  with  the  flavour  of  a  dish,  or 
the  kind  of  wine,  could  be  removed  by  merely  reaching 
out  the  hand  and  drawing  from  an  inexhaustible  treasure- 
house  both  wines  and  condiments  such  as  scarce  Eome  it 
self  could  equal.  This  was  an  apartment  contrived  and 
built  by  Hortensius  himself. 

The  dinner  was  worthy  the  room  and  its  builder,  the 


108  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

marbles,  the  prospect,  the  guest,  the  host,  and  the  hostess. 
The  afore -mentioned  Apicius  would  have  never  once  thought 
of  the  panelled  cupboards.  No  dish  would  have  admitted 
of  addition  or  alteration. 

When  the  feasting  was  over,  and  with  it  the  lighter  and 
more  disjointed  and  various  conversation  which  usually 
accompanies  it,  Marcus  rose,  and  withdrawing  one  of  the 
sliding  panels,  with  much  gravity  and  state,  drew  forth  a 
glass  pitcher  of  exquisite  form,  filled  with  wine,  saying, 
as  he  did  so, — 

"  All,  Piso,  that  you  have  as  yet  tasted  is  but  as  water 
of  the  Tiber  to  this.  This  is  more  than  nectar.  The  gods 
have  never  been  so  happy  as  to  have  seen  the  like.  I  am 
their  envy.  It  is  Falernian  that  once  saw  the  wine-vaults 
of  Heliogabalus.  Not  a  drop  of  Chian  has  ever  touched  it ; 
it  is  pure,  unadulterate.  Taste  and  be  translated  !  " 

I  acknowledged,  as  I  well  might,  its  unequalled  flavour. 

"  This  nectarean  draught, "  he  continued,  "  I  even  con 
sider  to  possess  purifying  and  exalting  qualities.  He  who 
drinks  it  is  for  the  time  of  a  higher  nature.  It  is  better 
for  the  temper  than  a  chapter  of  Seneca  or  Epictetus.  It 
brings  upon  the  soul  a  certain  divine  calm,  favourable  be 
yond  any  other  state  to  the  growth  of  the  virtues.  Could 
it  become  of  universal  use,  mankind  were  soon  a  race  of 
gods.  Even  Christianity  were  then  made  unnecessary,  ad 
mitting  it  to  be  that  unrivalled  moral  engine  which  you 
Christians  affirm  it  to  be.  It  is  favourable  also  to  dispas 
sionate  discussion,  Piso,  a  little  of  which  I  would  now 
invite.  Know  you  not,  I  have  scarce  seen  you  since  your 
assumption  of  your  new  name  and  faith  ?  What  bad 
demon  possessed  you,  in  an  evil  hour,  to  throw  Eome  and 
your  friends  into  such  a  ferment  ?  " 

"  Had  you  become,  Lucius, "  said  Lucilia,  "  a  declaiming 
advocate  of  Epicurus,  or  a  street  lecturer  upon  Plato,  or 
turned  priest  of  Apollo's  new  temple,  it  would  have  all 
been  quite  tolerable,  though  amazing ;  but  Christian !  " 

"Yes,  Lucius,  it  is  too  bad,"  added  Marcus.  "If  you 
were  in  want  of  moral  strength,  you  would  have  done  better 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  109 

to  have  begged  some  of  my  Falernian.  You  should  not 
have  been  denied. " 

"  Or,"  said  Lucilia,  "  some  of  my  Smyrna  cordial.  " 

"  At  least, "  continued  Marcus,  "  you  might  have  come  to 
me  for  some  of  my  wisdom,  which  I  keep  ready  at  a  mo 
ment's  warning,  in  quantities  to  suit  all  applicants.  " 

"  Or  to  me, "  said  Lucilia,  "  for  some  of  my  every-day 
good  sense,  which  you  know  I  possess  in  such  abundance, 
though  I  have  not  sat  at  the  feet  of  philosophers. " 

"But,  seriously,  Lucius,"  began  Marcus,  in  altered 
mood,  "  this  is  a  most  extraordinary  movement  of  yours. 
I  should  like  to  be  able  to  interpret  it.  If  you  must  needs 
have  what  you  call  religion,  of  which  I  for  my  part  can  see 
no  earthly  occasion,  here  were  plenty  of  forms  in  which  to 
receive  it,  more  ancient  and  more  respectable  than  this  of 
the  Christians. " 

"  I  am  almost  unwilling  to  converse  on  this  topic  with 
you,  Marcus, "  I  rejoined,  "  for  there  is  nothing  in  your 
nature,  or  rather  in  your  educated  nature,  to  which  to 
appeal  with  the  least  hope  of  any  profitable  result  either  to 
me  or  you.  The  gods  have,  as  you  say,  given  you  a  good 
heart,  —  I  may  add  too,  a  most  noble  head ;  but  yourself 
and  education  together  have  made  you  so  thoroughly  a  man 
of  the  world  that  the  interests  of  any  other  part  of  your 
nature,  save  those  of  the  intellect  and  the  senses,  are  to  you 
precisely  as  if  they  did  not  exist.  " 

"  Eight,  Lucius ;  therein  do  I  claim  honour  and  distinc 
tion.  The  intangible,  the  invisible,  the  vague,  the  shad 
owy,  I  leave  to  women  and  priests,  concerning  myself 
only  with  the  substantial  realities  of  life.  Great  Jupiter ! 
what  would  become  of  mankind  were  we  all  women  and 
priests  ?  How  could  the  courts  go  on  —  senates  sit  and  de 
liberate  —  armies  conquer  ?  I  think  the  world  would  stand 
still.  However,  I  object  not  to  a  popular  faith,  such  as 
that  which  now  obtains  throughout  the  Eoman  world.  If 
mankind,  as  history  seems  to  prove,  must  and  will  have 
something  of  the  kind,  this  perhaps  is  as  good  as  anything 
else ;  and  seeing  it  has  once  become  established  and  fixed 


110  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

in  the  way  it  has,  I  think  it  ought  no  more  to  be  disturbed 
than  men's  faith  in  their  political  institutions.  Our  con 
cern  should  be  merely  to  regulate  it,  that  it  grow  not  too 
large  and  so  overlay  and  crush  the  state.  Fanatics  and 
bigots  must  be  hewn  away.  There  must  be  an  occasional 
iriusion  of  doubt  and  indifference  into  the  mass,  to  keep 
it  from  fermenting.  You  cannot  be  offended,  Lucius,  at 
the  way  in  which  I  speak  of  your  new -adopted  faith.  I 
think  no  better  of  any  other.  Epicureans,  Stoics,  Plato- 
nists,  Jews,  Christians,  —  they  are  all  alike  to  me.  I  hold 
them  all  at  arm's  length.  I  have  listened  to  them  all ;  and 
more  idle,  indigested  fancies  never  did  I  hear,  —  no,  not 
from  the  newest-fledged  advocate  playing  the  rhetorician 
at  his  first  appearance. " 

"  I  do  not  wonder,  Curtius,  that  you  have  turned  away 
dissatisfied  with  the  philosophers.  I  do  not  wonder  that 
you  reject  the  popular  superstitions.  But  I  do  wonder 
that  you  will  prejudge  any  question,  or  infer  the  intrinsic 
incredibility  of  whatever  may  take  the  form  of  religion, 
from  the  intrinsic  incredibility  of  what  the  world  has  here 
tofore  possessed.  It  surely  is  not  a  philosophical  method. " 

"  Not  in  other  things,  I  grant, "  replied  Marcus ;  "  but 
concerning  this  question  of  popular  superstition,  or  re 
ligion,  the  only  philosophy  is  to  discard  the  whole  sub 
ject  as  one  undeserving  severe  investigation.  The  follies 
which  the  populace  have  in  all  nations  and  in  all  time 
adopted,  let  them  be  retained,  and  even  defended  and  sup 
ported  by  the  state.  They  perform  a  not  unimportant  office 
in  regulating  the  conduct  and  manners  of  men,  in  preserv 
ing  a  certain  order  in  the  world.  But  beyond  this,  it  seems 
to  me  the  subject  is  unworthy  the  regard  of  a  reflecting 
person.  One  world  and  one  life  are  enough  to  manage  at  a 
time.  If  there  be  another,  or  if  there  be  a  God  who  gov 
erns  it,  and  this  also,  it  will  be  time  enough  to  know 
these  things  when  they  are  made  plain  to  the  senses,  as 
these  trees  and  hills  now  are,  and  your  well-shaped  form. 
This  peering  into  futurity,  in  the  expectation  to  arrive  at 
certainty,  seems  to  me  much  as  if  one  should  hope  to  make 


FKOM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  Ill 

out  the  forms  of  cities,  palaces,  and  groves,  by  gazing  into 
the  empty  air,  or  on  the  clouds.     Besides,  of  what  use  ?  " 

"  Of  what  use,  indeed  ?  "  added  Lucilia.  "  I  want  no 
director  or  monitor  concerning  any  duty  or  act  which  it 
falls  to  me  to  perform,  other  than  I  find  within  me.  I 
have  no  need  of  a  divine  messenger  to  stand  ever  at  my 
side,  to  tell  me  what  I  must  do  and  what  I  must  forbear. 
I  have  within  me  instincts  and  impulses  which  I  find 
amply  sufficient.  The  care  and  duty  of  every  day  are  very 
much  alike,  and  a  little  experience  and  observation,  added 
to  the  inward  instinct,  make  me  quite  superior  to  most 
difficulties  and  evils  as  they  arise.  The  gods,  or  whatever 
power  gave  us  our  nature,  have  not  left  us  dependent  either 
on  what  is  called  religion  or  philosophy. " 

"  What  you  say, "  I  rejoined,  "  is  partly  true :  the  gods 
have  not  left  us  dependent  upon  either  religion  or  philoso 
phy.  There  is  a  natural  religion  of  the  heart  and  the  con 
science,  which  is  born  with  us,  grows  up  with  us,  and 
never  forsakes  us.  But  then,  after  all,  how  defective  and 
incomplete  a  principle  it  is.  It  has  chiefly  to  do  only  with 
our  daily  conduct ;  it  cannot  answer  our  doubts  or  satisfy 
our  wants.  It  differs,  too,  with  the  constitution  of  the 
individual.  In  some  it  is  a  principle  of  much  greater 
value  and  efficacy  than  in  others.  Your  instincts  are 
clear  and  powerful,  and  direct  you  aright.  But  in  another 
they  are  obscure  and  weak,  and  leave  the  mind  in  the 
greatest  perplexity.  It  is  by  no  means  all  that  they  want. 
Then,  are  not  the  prevalent  superstitions  most  injurious  in 
their  influences  upon  the  common  mind  ?  Can  you  doubt 
whether  more  of  good  or  evil  is  derived  to  the  soul  from 
the  ideas  it  entertains  of  the  character  and  providence  of 
the  gods  ?  Can  you  be  insensible  to  the  horrible  enormities 
and  nameless  vices  which  make  a  part  even  of  what  is 
called  religion  ?  And  is  there  no  need  —  if  men  will  have 
religion  in  some  form  —  that  they  should  receive  it  in  a 
better  one  ?  Can  you  not  conceive  of  such  views  of  God 
and  his  worship,  of  duty,  virtue,  and  immortality,  being 
presented,  that  they  shall  strike  the  mind  as  reasonable  in 


112  LETTERS  PROM  ROME. 

themselves,  and  of  beneficial  instead  of  hurtful  power  upon 
being  adopted  ?  Can  you  not  imagine  your  own  mind  and 
the  ininds  of  people  generally  to  be  so  devoted  to  a  high 
and  sublime  conception  of  the  Divinity  and  of  futurity,  as 
to  be  absolutely  incapable  of  an  act  that  should  displease 
him  or  forfeit  the  hope  of  immortality  ? " 

"  Hardly, "  said  Marcus  and  Lucilia. 

"  Well,  suppose  it  were  so.  Or  rather  if  you.  cannot 
imagine  such  a  state  of  things,  multitudes  can.  You  are 
not  a  fair  specimen  of  our  kind,  but  only  of  a  compara 
tively  small  class.  Generally  —  so  I  have  found  it  —  the 
mind  is  seeking  about  for  something  better  than  what  any 
human  system  has  as  yet  proposed,  and  is  confident  of 
nothing  more  than  of  this,  that  men  may  be  put  in  posses 
sion  of  truths  that  shall  carry  them  on  as  far  beyond  what 
their  natural  instincts  now  can  do,  as  these  instincts  carry 
them  on  beyond  any  point  to  which  the  brutes  ever  arrive. 
This  certainly  was  my  own  conviction  before  I  met  with 
Christianity.  Now,  Marcus  and  Lucilia,  what  is  this  Chris 
tianity  but  a  revelation  from  Heaven,  whose  aim  is  to  give 
to  you,  and  to  all,  such  conceptions  of  God  and  futurity  as 
I  have  just  spoken  of  ?  " 

I  then,  finding  that  I  had  obtained  a  hearing,  went  into 
a  full  account  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  as  I  had  received  it 
from  the  books  themselves,  and  which  to  you  I  need  not 
repeat.  They  listened  with  considerable  patience,  though 
I  was  careful  not  to  use  many  words,  but  without  any 
expression  of  countenance  or  manner  that  indicated  any 
very  favourable  change  in  their  opinions  or  feelings.  As 
I  ended,  Marcus  said, — 

"  I  shall  always  think  better  of  this  religion,  Lucius, 
that  you  have  adopted  it,  though  I  cannot  say  that  your 
adopting  it  will  raise  my  judgment  of  you.  I  do  not  at 
present  see  upon  what  grounds  it  stands,  so  firm  or  divine 
that  a  citizen  is  defensible  in  abandoning  for  it  an  ostensi 
ble  reception  of  and  faith  in  the  existing  forms  of  the  state. 
However,  I  incline  to  allow  freedom  in  these  matters  to 
scholars  and  speculative  minds.  Let  them  work  out  and 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  113 

enjoy  their  own  fancies ;  they  are  a  restless,  discontented, 
ambitious  herd,  and  should,  for  the  sake  of  their  genius, 
be  humoured  in  the  particular  pursuits  where  they  have 
placed  their  happiness.  But  when  they  turn  propagators 
and  reformers,  and  aim  at  the  subversion  of  things  now 
firmly  established  and  prosperous,  then  —  although  I  my 
self  should  never  meddle  in  such  matters  —  it  is  scarcely  a 
question  whether  the  power  of  the  state  should  interpose 
and  lay  upon  them  the  necessary  restraints.  Upon  the 
whole,  Lucius  Piso,  I  think  that  I  and  Lucilia  had  better 
turn  preachers,  and  exhort  you  to  return  to  the  faith,  or 
no-faith,  which  you  have  abandoned.  Leave  such  things  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  What  have  you  gained  but  mak 
ing  yourself  an  object  of  popular  aversion  or  distrust  ?  You 
have  abandoned  the  community  of  the  polite,  the  refined, 
the  sober,  to  which  by  nature  you  belong,  and  have  asso 
ciated  yourself  with  a  vulgar  crew  of  —  forgive  my  free 
dom,  I  speak  the  common  judgment,  that  you  may  know 
what  it  is  —  ignorant  fanatics,  or  crafty  knaves,  who  care 
for  you  no  further  than  as  by  your  great  name  they  may 
stand  a  little  higher  in  the  world.  I  protest  before  Ju 
piter,  that  to  save  others  like  you  from  such  loss,  I  feel 
tempted  to  hunt  over  the  statute-books  for  some  law  now 
obsolete  and  forgotten,  but  not  legally  dead,  that  may  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  this  mischief,  and  give  it  another 
Decian  blight,  which,  if  it  do  not  kill,  may  yet  check  and 
obstruct  its  growth. " 

I  replied  that  "  from  him  I  could  apprehend,  he  well 
knew,  no  such  deed  of  folly  or  guilt,  however  likely  it  was 
that  others  might  do  it  and  glory  in  their  shame ;  that  his 
nature  would  save  him  from  such  a  deed,  though  his  prin 
ciples  might  not.  "  I  told  him,  moreover,  that  "  I  did  not 
despair  of  his  looking  upon  Christianity  with  a  favourable 
judgment  in  good  time.  He  had  been  willing  to  hear,  and 
there  was  that  secret  charm  in  the  truths  and  doctrines  of 
Christ's  religion,  and  especially  in  his  character,  that  how 
ever  rudely  set  forth,  the  mind  could  scarcely  resist  it; 
against  its  will,  it  would  oftentimes  find  itself  subdued  and 

8 


114      (  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

changed.  The  seeds  I  have  now  dropped  upon  your  hearts, 
I  trust  will  some  day  spring  up  and  bear  such  fruit  as  you 
yourselves  will  rejoice  in.  " 

"  So, "  said  Marcus,  "  may  the  wheat  spilled  into  the 
Tiber,  or  sown  among  rocks,  or  eaten  by  the  birds.  " 

"  And  that  may  be,  though  not  to-day  or  to-morrow, "  I 
replied.  "  The  seed  of  things  essential  to  man's  life,  as 
of  wheat,  is  not  easily  killed.  It  may  be  buried  for  years 
and  years,  yet  turned  up  at  length  to  the  sun,  and  its  life 
sprouts  upward,  in  leaf,  and  stem,  and  fruit.  Borne  down 
by  the  waters  of  the  Tiber,  and  apparently  lost,  it  may  be 
cast  up  upon  the  shores  of  Eygpt  or  Britain,  and  fulfil  its 
destiny.  The  seed  of  truth  is  longer-lived  still,  by  reason 
that  what  it  bears  is  more  essential  than  wheat  or  other 
grain  to  man's  best  life. " 

"  Well,  well, "  said  Marcus,  "  let  us  charge  our  goblets 
with  the  bottom  of  this  Falernian,  and  forgetting  whether 
there  be  such  an  entity  as  truth  or  not,  drink  to  the  health 
of  the  Princess  Julia.  " 

"  That  comes  nearer  our  hearts, "  said  Lucilia,  "  than 
anything  that  has  been  spoken  for  the  last  hour.  When 
you  return,  Lucius,  Laco  must  follow  you  with  a  mule- 
load  of  some  of  my  homely  products  —  "  She  was  about  to 
add  more,  when  we  were  all  alike  startled  and  alarmed  by 
cries,  seemingly  of  deep  distress,  and  rapidly  approaching. 
We  sprung  from  our  seats,  when  the  door  of  the  room  was 
violently  flung  open,  and  a  slave  rushed  in,  crying  out  : 

"  Oh,  sir  !  Gallus  !  Gallus  !  " 

"  What  is  it  ?  what  is  it  ?  "  cried  Marcus  and  Lucilia. 
"  Speak !  quick  !  has  he  fallen  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no ;  the  pond !  the  fish-pond !  run  !  fly  !  " 

Distractedly  we  hurried  to  the  spot,  already  surrounded 
by  a  crowd  of  slaves.  Who  had  been  with  him  ?  where 
had  he  fallen  ?  were  questions  hastily  asked,  but  which 
no  one  could  answer.  It  was  a  miserable  scene  of  agony, 
confusion,  and  despair, —  Marcus  ordering  his  slaves  to 
dive  into  the  pond,  then  uttering  curses  upon  them,  and 
commanding  those  to  whom  Gallus  was  usually  intrusted 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  115 

to  the  rack.  No  one  could  swim,  no  one  could  dive.  It 
was  long  since  I  had  made  use  of  an  art  which  I  once  pos 
sessed  ;  but  instantly  I  cast  off  my  upper  garments,  and 
needing  no  other  direction  to  the  true  spot  than  the  barking 
of  the  little  dog,  his  jumping  in  and  out  of  the  water,  first 
learning  that  the  water  was  deep  and  of  an  even  bottom, 
I  threw  myself  in,  and  in  a  moment,  guided  by  the  white 
dress  of  the  little  fellow,  I  grasped  him  and  drew  him  to 
the  surface. 

Life  was  apparently  and  probably  to  mind  extinct,  but 
expressing  a  hope  that  means  might  yet  be  resorted  to  that 
should  restore  him,  I  bore  him  in  my  arms  to  the  house. 
But  it  was  all  in  vain.  Gallus  was  dead. 

I  shall  not  inflict  a  new  sadness  upon  you,  Fausta,  by 
describing  the  grief  of  my  friends,  or  any  of  the  incidents  of 
the  days  I  now  passed  with  them.  They  were  heavy,  mel 
ancholy  days ;  for  the  sorrows  of  both  Lucilia  and  Marcus 
were  excessive  and  inconsolable.  I  could  do  nothing  for 
them,  nor  say  anything  to  them ;  yet  while  they  were  thus 
incapacitated  for  all  action,  I  could  serve  them  essentially 
by  placing  myself  at  the  head  of  their  affairs,  and  relieving 
them  of  common  cares  and  duties,  that  must  otherwise  have 
been  neglected  or  have  proved  irksome  and  oppressive. 

The  ashes  of  Gallus,  committed  to  a  small  marble  urn, 
have  been  deposited  in  a  tomb  in  the  centre  of  Lucilia 's 
flower-garden,  which  will  soon  be  embowered  by  flowers  and 
shrubs  which  her  hand  will  delight  to  train  around  it. 

On  the  eve  of  the  day  when  I  was  to  leave  them  and 
return  to  Eome,  we  sat  together  in  a  portico  which  over 
looks  the  Tiber.  Marcus  and  Lucilia  were  sad,  but  at 
length  in  some  sort  calm.  The  first  violence  of  sorrow  had 
spent  itself,  and  reflection  was  beginning  to  succeed. 

"  I  suppose, "  said  Marcus,  "  your  rigid  faith  greatly 
condemns  all  this  show  of  suffering  which  you  have  wit 
nessed,  Piso,  in  us,  as,  if  not  criminal,  at  least  weak  and 
childish  ? " 

"  Not  so,  by  any  means,"  I  rejoined.  K  The  religion  of 
the  Christians  is  what  may  be  termed  a  natural  religion ; 


116  LETTERS  FROM    ROME. 

it  does  violence  to  not  one  of  the  good  affections  and  pro 
pensities.  Coming,  as  we  maintain,  from  the  Creator  of 
our  bodies  and  our  minds,  it  does  them  no  injury,  it  wars 
not  with  any  of  their  natural  elements,  but  most  strictly 
harmonizes  with  them.  It  aims  to  direct,  to  modify,  to 
heal,  to  moderate,  but  never  to  alter  or  annihilate.  Love 
of  our  offspring  is  not  more  according  to  our  nature  than 
grief  for  the  loss  of  them.  Grief  therefore  is  innocent, — 
even  as  praiseworthy  as  love.  What  trace  of  human  wis 
dom,  much  less  of  divine,  would  there  be  in  the  arrange 
ment  that  should  first  bind  us  by  chains  of  affection  strong 
as  adamant  to  a  child,  or  a  parent,  or  a  friend,  and  then 
treat  the  sorrow  as  criminal  that  wept,  with  whatever 
violence,  as  it  saw  the  links  broken  and  scattered,  never 
again  to  be  joined  together  ?  " 

"  That  certainly  is  a  proof  that  some  just  ideas  are  to  be 
found  in  your  religion, "  replied  my  friend.  "  By  nothing 
was  I  ever  more  irreconcilably  offended  in  the  Stoical  phi 
losophy  than  by  its  harsh  violence  towards  nature  under 
suffering.  To  be  treated  by  your  philosophy  with  rudeness 
and  contempt  because  you  yield  to  emotions  which  are  as 
natural,  and  therefore  in  my  judgment  as  innocent  as  any, 
is  as  if  one  were  struck  by  a  friend  or  a  parent  to  whom 
you  fled  for  protection  or  comfort.  The  doctrines  of  all  the 
others  failed  in  the  same  way.  Even  the  Epicureans  hold 
it  a  weakness  and  even  a  wrong  to  grieve,  seeing  the  injury 
that  is  thereby  done  to  happiness.  Grief  must  be  sup 
pressed  and  banished,  because  it  is  accompanied  by  pain. 
That,  too,  seemed  to  me  a  false  sentiment,  because,  al 
though  grief  is  indeed  in  some  sort  painful,  yet  is  it  not 
wholly  so,  but  is  attended  by  a  kind  of  pleasure.  How 
plain  it  is  that  I  should  suffer  greatly  more  were  I  forcibly 
restrained  by  a  foreign  power,  or  my  own,  from  shedding 
these  tears  and  uttering  these  sighs  for  Gallus,  than  I  do 
now  while  I  am  free  to  indulge  my  natural  feelings.  In 
truth,  it  is  the  only  pleasure  that  grief  brings  v/ith  it, — 
the  freedom  of  indulging  it. " 

"  He, "  I  said,  as  Marcus  paused,  giving  way  afresh  to  his 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  117 

sorrow,  "  who  embraces  the  Christian  doctrine  is  never 
blamed,  condemned,  or  ridiculed  by  it  for  the  indulgence 
of  the  emotions  to  which  the  loss  of  those  whom  we  love 
gives  birth.  But  then,  at  the  same  time,  he  will  probably 
grieve  and  suffer  much  less  under  such  circumstances  than 
you,  —  not,  however,  because  he  is  forcibly  restrained,  but 
because  of  the  influence  upon  his  mind  and  his  heart  of 
truths  and  opinions  which  as  a  Christian  he  entertains, 
and  which,  without  any  will  or  act  of  his  own,  work 
within  him  and  strengthen  and  console  him.  The  Chris 
tian,  believing  so  firmly  as  he  does,  for  example,  in  a  God, 
not  only  on  grounds  of  reason,  but  of  express  revelation, 
and  that  this  God  is  a  parent,  exercising  a  providence  over 
his  creatures,  regardless  of  none,  loving  as  a  parent  all ; 
who  has  created  mankind,  not  for  his  own  amusement  or 
glory,  but  that  life  and  happiness  might  be  diffused, —  they 
who  believe  thus  must  feel  very  differently  under  adver 
sity  from  those  who,  like  yourself,  believe  nothing  of  it 
at  all,  and  from  those  who,  like  the  disciples  of  the  Porch 
and  the  Academy,  believe  but  an  inconsiderable  part  of  it. 
Suppose,  Marcus  and  Lucilia,  your  whole  population  of 
slaves  were,  instead  of  strangers  and  slaves,  your  children, 
towards  whom  you  experienced  the  same  sentiments  of  deep 
affection  that  you  did  toward  Gallus, —  how  would  you  not 
consult  for  their  happiness ;  and  how  plain  it  is  that  what 
ever  laws  you  might  set  over  them,  they  would  be  laws  of 
love,  the  end  of  which,  however  they  might  not  always 
recognize  it,  would  be  their  happiness, —  happiness  through 
their  virtue.  This  may  represent  with  sufficient  exactness 
the  light  in  which  Christians  regard  the  Divinity,  and  the 
laws  of  life  under  which  they  find  themselves.  Admitting 
therefore  their  faith  to  be  well  founded,  and  how  manifest 
is  it  that  they  will  necessarily  suffer  less  under  adversity 
than  you,  —  and  not  because  any  violence  is  done  to  their 
nature,  but  because  of  the  benignant  influences  of  such 
truths." 

"  What  you  say, "  observed  Lucilia,   "  affects   the  mind 
very  agreeably,  and  gives  a  pleasing  idea  both  of  the  wis- 


118  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

dom  and  mercy  of  the  Christian  faith.  It  seems,  at  any 
rate,  to  be  suited  to  such  creatures  as  we  are.  What  a 
pity  that  it  is  so  difficult  to  discern  truth ! " 

"  It  is  difficult, "  I  replied ;  "  the  best  things  are  always 
so ;  but  it  is  not  impossible ;  what  is  necessary  to  our  hap 
piness  is  never  so.  A  mind  of  common  powers,  well-dis 
posed,  seeking  with  a  real  desire  to  find,  will  rarely  retire 
from  the  search  wholly  unsuccessful.  The  great  essentials 
to  our  daily  well-being  and  the  right  conduct  of  life,  the 
Creator  has  supplied  through  our  instincts.  Your  natural 
religion,  of  which  you  have  spoken,  you  find  sufficient  for 
most  of  the  occurrences  which  arise  both  of  doing  and  bear 
ing.  But  there  are  other  emergencies  for  which  it  is  as 
evidently  insufficient.  Now,  as  the  Creator  has  supplied 
so  perfectly  in  all  breasts  the  natural  religion  which  is  so 
essential,  it  is  fair  to  say  and  believe  that  He  would  not 
make  additional  truths,  almost  equally  essential  to  our  hap 
piness,  either  of  impossible  attainment,  or  encompassed  by 
difficulties  which  could  not  with  a  little  diligence  and  per 
severance  be  overcome.  * 

"  It  would  seem  so,  certainly, "  said  Marcus ;  "  but  it  is 
so  long  since  I  have  bestowed  any  thought  upon  philo 
sophical  inquiries,  that  to  me  the  labour  would  be  very 
great  and  the  difficulties  extreme ;  for  at  present  there  is 
scarcely  so  much  as  a  mere  shred  or  particle  of  faith  to 
which  as  a  nucleus  other  truths  may  attach  themselves. 
In  truth,  I  never  look  even  to  possess  any  clear  faith  in  a 
God ;  it  seems  a  subject  wholly  beyond  the  scope  and 
grasp  of  my  mind.  I  cannot  entertain  the  idea  of  self- 
existence.  I  can  conceive  of  him  neither  as  one  nor  as 
divided  into  parts.  Is  he  infinite  and  everywhere,  himself 
constituting  his  universe  ?  —  then  he  is  scarcely  a  God  ;  or 
is  he  a  being  dwelling  apart  from  his  works,  and  watching 
their  obedience  to  their  imposed  laws  ?  In  neither  of  these 
conceptions  can  I  rest.  " 

"  It  is  not  strange,  *  I  replied ;  "  nor  that  refusing  to  be 
lieve  in  the  fact  of  a  God  until  you  should  be  able  to  com 
prehend  him  perfectly,  you  should  to  this  hour  be  without 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  119 

faith.  If  I  had  waited,  before  believing,  until  I  under 
stood,  I  should  at  this  moment  be  as  faithless  as  you,  or  as 
I  was  before  I  received  Christianity.  Do  I  comprehend 
the  Deity  ?  Can  I  describe  the  mode  of  his  being  ?  Can 
I  tell  you  in  what  manner  he  sprang  into  existence  ?  and 
whether  he  is  necessarily  everywhere  in  his  works,  and, 
as  it  were,  constituting  them  ?  or  whether  he  has  power 
to  contract  himself,  and  dwell  apart  from  them,  their  om 
niscient  Observer  and  omnipotent  Lord  ?  I  know  nothing 
of  all  this ;  the  religion  which  I  receive  teaches  nothing  of 
all  this.  Christianity  does  not  demonstrate  the  being  of  a 
God,  it  simply  proclaims  it ;  hardly  so  much  as  that  indeed. 
It  supposes  it,  as  what  was  already  well  known  and  gener 
ally  believed.  I  cannot  doubt  that  it  is  left  thus  standing 
by  itself,  untaught  and  unexplained,  only  because  the  sub 
ject  is  intrinsically  incomprehensible  by  us.  It  is  a  great 
fact  or  truth  which  all  can  receive,  but  which  none  can  ex 
plain  or  prove.  If  it  is  not  believed  either  instinctively 
or  through  the  recognition  of  it  and  declaration  of  it  in 
somo  revelation,  it  cannot  be  believed  at  all.  The  mind  of 
man  is  no  more  competent  to  reach  and  grasp  it  through 
reason,  than  his  hands  are  to  mould  a  sun.  All  the  rea 
sonings,  imaginations,  guesses  of  self-styled  philosophers 
are  here  like  the  prattlings  of  children.  They  make  you 
smile,  but  they  do  not  instruct. " 

"  I  fear, "  said  Marcus,  "  I  shall  then  never  believe, 
for  I  can  believe  nothing  of  which  I  cannot  form  a 
conception.  " 

"  Surely, "  I  answered,  "  our  faith  is  not  bounded  by  our 
conceptions  or  our  knowledge  in  other  things.  We  build 
the  loftiest  palaces  and  temples  upon  foundations  of  stone, 
though  we  can  form  no  conception  whatever  of  the  nature 
of  a  stone.  So,  I  think,  we  may  found  a  true  and  sufficient 
religion  on  our  belief  in  the  fact  of  a  God,  although  we  can 
form  no  conception  whatever  of  his  nature  and  the  mode 
of  his  existence. " 

But  I  should  fatigue  you,  Fausta,  were  I  to  give  you 
more  of  our  conversation.  It  ran  on,  equally  pleasant  I 


120  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

believe  to  all  of  us,  to  a  quite  late  hour ;  in  which  time 
almost  all  that  is  peculiar  to  the  faith  of  the  Christians 
came  under  our  review.  It  was  more  than  midnight  when 
we  rose  from  our  seats  to  retire  to  our  chambers.  But 
before  we  did  that,  a  common  feeling  directed  our  steps  to 
the  tomb  of  Gallus,  which  was  but  a  few  paces  from  where 
we  had  been  sitting.  There  these  childless  parents  again 
gave  way  to  their  grief ;  and  was  I  stone  that  I  should  not 
weep  with  them  ? 

When  this  act  of  duty  and  piety  had  been  performed,  we 
sought  our  pillows.  As  for  me,  I  could  not  sleep  for 
thinking  of  my  friends  and  their  now  desolate  house.  For 
even  to  me,  who  was  to  that  child  almost  a  stranger,  and 
had  been  so  little  used  to  his  presence,  this  place  is  no 
longer  the  same ;  all  its  brightness,  life,  and  spirit  of  glad 
ness  are  gone.  Everything  seems  changed.  From  every 
place  and  scene  something  seems  to  have  been  subtracted  to 
which  they  were  indebted  for  whatever  it  was  that  made 
them  attractive.  If  this  is  so  to  me,  what  must  it  be  to 
Marcus  and  Lucilia  ?  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  a  sorrow 
has  settled  upon  their  hearts  which  no  length  of  time  can 
heal.  I  suppose  if  all  their  estates  had  been  swept  away 
from  them  in  a  night,  and  all  their  friends,  they  would  not 
have  been  so  overwhelmed  as  by  this  calamity, —  in  such  a 
wonderful  manner  were  they  each  woven  into  the  child, 
and  all  into  each  other,  as  one  being.  They  seem  no  longer 
to  me  like  the  same  persons.  Not  that  they  are  not  often 
calm,  and  in  a  manner  possessed  of  themselves,  but  that 
even  then,  when  they  are  most  themselves,  there  has  a 
dulness,  a  dreamy  absence  of  mind,  a  fixed  sadness,  come 
over  them,  that  wholly  changes  them.  Though  they  sit 
and  converse  with  you,  their  true  thoughts  seem  far  away. 
They  are  kind  and  courteous  as  ever  to  the  common  eye, 
but  I  can  see  that  all  the  relish  of  life  and  of  intercourse  is 
now  to  them  gone ;  all  is  flat  and  insipid.  The  friend 
is  coldly  saluted ;  the  meal  left  untasted,  or  partaken  of  in 
silence  and  soon  abandoned ;  the  affairs  of  the  household 
left  to  others,  to  any  who  will  take  charge  of  them.  They 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  121 

tell  me  that  this  will  always  be  so ;  that  however  they  may 
seem  to  others,  they  must  ever  experience  a  sense  of  loss, 
not  any  less  than  they  would  if  a  limb  had  been  shorn  away. 
A  part  of  themselves,  and  of  the  life  of  every  day  and  hour, 
is  taken  from  them. 

How  strange  is  all  this,  even  in  the  light  of  Christian 
faith !  How  inexplicable,  we  are  ready  to  say,  by  any 
reason  of  ours,  the  providence  of  God  in  taking  away  the 
human  being  in  the  first  blossoming,  before  the  fruit  has 
even  shown  itself,  much  less  ripened  1  Yet  is  not  immor 
tality  —  the  hope,  the  assurance  of  immortality  —  a  suffi 
cient  solution  ?  To  me  it  is.  This  will  not  indeed  cure 
our  sorrows,  —  they  spring  from  somewhat  wholly  indepen 
dent  of  futurity ;  but  it  vindicates  the  ways  of  the  Omnipo 
tent,  and  justifies  them  to  our  reason  and  our  affections. 
Will  Marcus  and  Lucilia  ever  rejoice  in  the  consolations 
which  now  from  this  hope  ?  Alas  !  I  fear  not.  They  seem 
in  a  manner  to  be  incapable  of  belief. 

In  the  morning  I  shall  start  for  Borne.  As  soon  as  there, 
you  shall  hear  from  me  again.  Farewell. 

While  Piso  was  absent  from  Eome  on  this  visit  to  his 
friend,  it  was  my  fortune  to  be  several  times  in  the  city, 
upon  necessary  affairs  of  the  illustrious  queen,  when  I  was 
both  at  the  palace  of  Aurelian  and  that  of  Piso.  It  was  at 
one  of  these  later  visits  that  it  became  apparent  to  me  that 
the  emperor  seriously  meditated  the  imposing  of  restric 
tions  of  some  kind  upon  the  Christians ;  yet  no  such  pur 
pose  was  generally  apprehended  by  that  sect  itself,  nor  by 
the  people  at  large.  The  dark  and  disastrous  occurrences 
on  the  day  of  the  dedication  were  variously  interpreted  by 
the  people ;  some  believing  them  to  point  at  the  Chris 
tians,  some  at  the  meditated  expedition  of  the  emperor, 
some  at  Aurelian  himself.  The  popular  mind  was,  how 
ever,  greatly  inflamed  against  the  Christians,  and  every  art 
was  resorted  to  by  the  priests  of  the  temples,  and  those  who 
were  as  bigoted  and  savage  as  themselves  among  the  people, 
to  fan  to  a  devouring  flame  the  little  fire  that  began  to  be 


122  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

kindled.  The  voice  from  the  temple,  however  some  might, 
with  Frorito  himself,  doubt  whether  it  were  not  from 
Heaven,  was  for  the  most  part  ascribed  to  the  Christians, 
although  they  could  give  no  explanation  of  the  manner  in 
which  it  has  been  produced.  But  as  in  the  case  of  Aurelian 
himself,  this  was  forgotten  in  the  horror  occasioned  by  the 
more  dreadful  language  of  the  omens,  which  in  such  black 
and  threatening  array  no  one  remembered  ever  to  have  been 
witnessed  before.  None  thought  or  talked  of  anything  else. 
It  was  the  universal  theme. 

This  may  be  seen  in  a  conversation  which  I  had  with  a 
rustic,  whom  I  overtook  as  I  rode  toward  Eome,  seated  on 
his  mule,  burdened  on  either  side  and  behind  with  the 
multifarious  produce  of  his  farm.  The  fellow,  as  I  drew 
near  to  him,  seeming  of  a  less  churlish  disposition  than 
most  of  those  whom  one  meets  upon  the  road,  who  will 
scarcely  return  a  friendly  salute,  I  feared  not  to  accost  him. 
After  giving  him  the  customary  good  wishes,  I  remarked 
upon  the  excellence  of  the  vegetables  which  he  had  in 
his  panniers. 

"  Yes, "  he  said,  "  these  lettuces  are  good,  but  not  what 
they  would  have  been  but  for  the  winds  we  have  had  from 
the  mountains.  It  has  sadly  nipped  them.  I  hear  the 
queen  pines  away  just  as  my  plants  do.  I  live  at  Noren- 
tum.  I  know  you,  sir,  though  you  cannot  know  me.  You 
pass  by  my  door  on  your  way  to  the  city.  My  children 
often  call  me  from  my  work  to  look  up,  for  there  goes  the 
secretary  of  the  good  queen  on  his  great  horse.  There  's  no 
such  horse  as  that  on  the  road.  Ha  1  ha  !  my  baskets  reach 
but  to  your  knee !  Well,  there  are  differences  in  animals 
and  in  men  too.  So  the  gods  will  it.  One  rides  upon  a 
horse  with  golden  bits,  another  upon  a  mule  with  none  at 
all.  Still  I  say,  let  the  gods  be  praised. " 

"  The  gods  themselves  could  hardly  help  that, "  I  said, 
"  if  they  made  one  man  stronger  or  of  more  wit  than 
another.  In  that  case  one  would  get  more  than  another. 
And  surely  you  would  not  have  men  all  run  in  one  mould 
—  all  five  feet  high,  all  weighing  so  much,  all  with  one 


FROM  riSO  TO  FAUSTA.  123 

face,  and  one  form,  and  one  brain  ?  The  world  were  then 
dull  enough. " 

"  You  say  true, "  he  replied ;  "  that  is  very  good.  If  we 
were  all  alike,  there  would  be  no  such  thing  as  being  rich 
or  poor,  — no  such  thing  as  getting  or  losing.  I  fear  it 
would  be  dull  enough,  as  you  say.  But  I  did  not  mean  to 
complain,  sir.  I  believe  I  am  contented  with  my  lot.  So 
long  as  I  can  have  my  little  farm,  with  my  garden  and 
barns,  my  cattle  and  my  poultry,  a  kind  neighbour  or  so, 
and  my  priest  and  temple,  I  care  for  nothing  more.  " 

"  You  have  a  temple,  then,  at  Norentum  ?" 

"  Yes,  to  Jupiter  Pluvius.  And  a  better  priest  has  not 
Eome  itself.  It  is  his  brother,  some  officer  of  the  emperor, 
I  take  these  vegetables  to.  I  hope  to  hear  more  this  morn 
ing  of  what  I  heard  something  when  I  was  last  at  market. 
And  I  think  I  shall,  for,  as  I  hear,  the  city  is  a  good  deal 
stirred  since  the  dedication  the  other  day. " 

"  I  believe  it  is, "  I  answered.  "  But  of  what  do  you  look 
to  hear,  if  I  may  ask  ?  Is  there  news  from  the  East  ? " 

"  Oh  no !  I  think  not  of  the  East  nor  South.  It  was  of 
something  to  be  done  about  these  Christians.  Our  temple, 
you  must  know,  is  half  forsaken  and  more  of  late.  I  be 
lieve  half  the  people  of  Norentum,  if  the  truth  were  known, 
have  turned  Christians  or  Jews.  Unless  we  wake  up  a 
little  our  worship  cannot  be  supported  and  our  religion  will 
be  gone.  And  glad  am  I  to  hear  through  our  priest  that 
even  the  emperor  is  alarmed  and  believes  something  must 
be  done.  You  know  than  he  there  is  not  a  more  devout 
man  in  Eome.  So  it  is  said.  And  one  thing  that  makes 
me  think  so  is  this ;  the  brother  of  our  priest  —  where  I  am 
going  with  these  vegetables ;  here  is  poultry,  too,  look ! 
you  never  saw  fatter,  I  warrant  you  —  told  him  that  he 
knew  it  for  certain  that  the  emperor  meant  to  make  short 
work  with  even  his  own  niece  —  you  know  whom  I  mean 
—  Aurelia,  who  has  long  been  suspected  to  be  a  Chris 
tian.  And  that 's  right.  If  he  punishes  any,  he  ought 
not  to  spare  his  own. " 

"  That  I  suppose  would  be  right.     But  why  should  he 


124  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

punish  any  ?     You  need  not  be  alarmed  nor  offended ;  I  am 
no  Christian. " 

"  The  gods  be  praised  therefor !  I  do  not  pretend  to  know 
the  whole  reason  why.  But  that  seems  to  be  the  only  way 
of  saving  the  old  religion  ;  and  I  don't  know  what  way  you 
can  possibly  have  of  showing  that  a  religion  of  yesterday 
is  true,  if  a  religion  a  thousand  years  old  is  to  be  made  out 
false.  If  religion  is  good  for  anything  —  and  I  for  one 
think  it  is  —  I  think  men  ought  to  be  compelled  to  have  it 
and  support  it,  just  as  they  should  be  to  eat  wholesome 
food  rather  than  poisonous  or  hurtful.  The  laws  won't 
permit  us  to  carry  certain  things  to  market,  nor  others  in 
a  certain  state.  If  we  do,  we  are  fined  or  imprisoned. 
Treat  a  Christian  in  the  same  way,  say  I.  Let  them  just 
go  thoroughly  to  work,  and  our  temples  will  soon  be  filled 
again.  " 

"  But  these  Christians  seem  to  be  harmless  people.  " 
"  But  they  have  no  religion  that  anybody  can  call  such. 
They  have  no  gods,  nor  altars,  nor  sacrifices ;  such  can 
never  be  harmless.  To  be  sure,  as  to  sacrifices,  I  think 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  doing  too  much  there.  I  am  not 
for  human  sacrifices.  Nor  do  I  see  the  need  either  of 
burning  up  a  dozen  fat  oxen  or  heifers,  as  was  done  the 
other  day  at  the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  We  in  Norentum 
burn  nothing  but  the  hoofs  and  some  of  the  entrails,  and 
the  rest  goes  to  the  priest  for  his  support.  As  I  take  it,  a 
sacrifice  is  just  a  sign  of  readiness  to  do  everything  and 
lose  everything  for  the  gods.  We  are  not  expected  to 
throw  either  ourselves  or  our  whole  substance  upon  the 
altar ;  making  the  sign  is  sufficient.  But,  as  I  said,  these 
Christians  have  no  altar  and  no  sacrifice,  nor  image  of  god 
or  goddess.  They  have  at  Norentum  an  old  ruinous  build 
ing,  once  a  market,  where  they  meet  for  worship ;  but 
those  who  have  been  present  say  that  nothing  is  to  be  seen 
and  nothing  heard  but  prayers  —  to  what  god  no  one  knows 
—  and  exhortations  of  the  priests.  Some  say  that  else 
where  they  have  what  they  call  an  altar,  and  adorn  their 
walls  with  pictures  and  statues.  However  all  this  may  be, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  125 

there  seems  to  be  some  charm  about  them  or  their  worship, 
for  all  the  world  is  running  after  them.  I  long  for  the 
news  I  shall  get  from  Varenus  Hirtius.  If  these  omens 
have  not  set  the  emperor  at  work  for  us,  nothing  will. 
Here  we  are  at  the  gates,  and  I  turn  toward  the  Claudian 
market.  May  the  day  go  happily  with  you.  " 

So  we  parted,  and  I  bent  my  way  toward  the  gardens  of 
Sallust. 

As  I  moved  slowly  along  through  the  streets,  my  heart 
was  filled  with  pity  for  this  people,  the  Christians,  - 
threatened,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  with  a  renewal  of  the 
calamities  that  had  so  many  times  swept  over  them  before. 
They  had  ever  impressed  me  as  a  simple-minded,  virtuous 
community,  of  notions  too  subtle  and  spiritual  for  the 
world  ever  to  receive,  but  which  upon  themselves  appeared 
to  exert  a  power  altogether  beneficial.  Many  of  this  faith 
I  had  known  well,  and  they  were  persons  to  excite  my 
highest  admiration  for  the  characters  which  they  bore. 
Need  I  name  more  than  the  princess  Julia,  and  her  husband 
the  excellent  Piso  ?  Others  like  them  —  what  wonder  if  in 
ferior  ? —  had  also,  both  in  Palmyra  and  at  Tibur  and  Eome, 
for  they  were  to  be  found  everywhere,  drawn  largely  both 
on  my  respect  and  my  affections.  I  beheld  with  sorrow 
the  signs  which  now  seemed  to  portend  suffering  and  dis 
aster,  and  my  sympathies  were  the  more  moved,  seeing  that 
never  before  had  there  been  upon  the  throne  a  man  who,  if 
he  were  once  entered  into  a  war  of  opposition  against  them, 
had  power  to  do  them  greater  harm,  or  could  have  proved 
a  more  stern  and  cruel  enemy.  Not  even  Nero  or  Domitian 
were  in  their  time  to  be  so  much  dreaded.  For  if  Aurelian 
should  once  league  himself  with  the  state  against  them,  it 
would  not  with  him  be  matter  of  mere  cruel  sport,  but  of 
conscience.  It  would  be  for  the  honour  of  the  gods,  the 
protection  of  religion,  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the  em 
pire,  that  he  would  assail  and  punish  them ;  and  the  same 
fierce  and  bloody  spirit  that  made  him  of  all  modern  con 
querors  the  bloodiest  and  fiercest,  it  was  plain  would  rule 
him  in  any  encounter  with  this  humble  and  defenceless 


126  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

tribe.  I  could  only  hope  that  I  was  deceived  as  well  as 
others  in  my  apprehensions ;  or  if  that  were  not  so,  pray 
that  the  gods  would  be  pleased  to  take  their  great  subject 
to  themselves. 

Full  of  such  reflections  and  emotions,  I  arrived  at  the 
palace,  and  was  ushered  into  the  presence  of  Livia.  There 
was  with  her  the  melancholy  Aurelia,  —  for  such  she  always 
seems, —  and  who  appeared  to  have  been  engaged  in  earnest 
talk  with  the  empress,  if  one  might  judge  by  tears  falling 
from  her  eyes.  The  only  words  which  I  caught  as  I  en 
tered  were  these  from  Aurelia,  "  But,  dear  lady,  if  Mucapor 
require  it  not,  why  should  others  think  of  it  so  much  ? 
Were  he  fixed,  then  should  I  indeed  have  to  ask  strength 
of  God  for  the  trial ;  "  then  seeing  me,  and  only  receiving 
my  salutations,  she  withdrew. 

Livia,  after  first  inquiring  concerning  Zenobia  and  Faus- 
tula,  returning  to  what  had  just  engaged  her,  said, — 

"  I  wish,  good  Nichomachus,  that  I  had  your  powers  of 
speech,  of  which,  as  you  can  remember,  I  have  been  wit 
ness  in  former  days,  those  happy  days  in  Syria,  when  you 
used  so  successfully  to  withstand  and  subdue  my  giddy  or 
headstrong  mind.  Here  have  I  been  for  weary  hours  —  not 
weary  neither,  for  their  aim  has,  I  am  sure,  been  a  worthy 
one  —  but  here  have  I  been  persuading  with  all  the  reason 
and  eloquence  I  could  bring  to  bear,  this  self-willed  girl 
to  renounce  these  fantastic  notions  she  has  imbibed  from 
the  Christians  and  their  books,  were  it  only  for  the  sake 
of  domestic  peace.  Aurelian  is  growing  daily  more  and 
more  exasperated  against  this  obscure  tribe,  and  drops, 
oftener  than  I  love  to  hear  them,  dark  hints  of  what  awaits 
them,  not  excepting,  he  says,  any,  of  whatever  rank  or 
name.  Not  that  I  suppose  he  or  the  senate  would  proceed 
farther  than  imprisonments,  banishment,  suppression  of 
free  speech,  the  destruction  of  books  and  churches;  so 
much  indeed  I  understand  from  him.  But  even  thus  far, 
and  we  might  lose  Aurelia,  —  a  thing  not  to  be  thought  of 
for  a  moment.  He  has  talked  with  her  himself ;  reasoned 
with  her,  threatened  her;  but  in  vain.  Now  he  has  im- 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUST  A.  127 

posed  the  same  task  upon  me ;  it  is  equally  in  vain.  I 
know  not  what  to  do.  " 

"  Because, "  I  replied,  "  nothing  can  be  done.  Where 
it  is  possible  to  see,  you  have  eyes  within  you  that  can 
penetrate  the  thickest  darkness  as  well  as  any.  But  here 
you  fail;  but  only  where  none  could  succeed.  A  sincere, 
honest  mind,  princess,  is  not  to  be  changed  either  by  per 
suasion  or  force.  Its  belief  is  not  subject  to  the  will. 
Aurelia,  if  I  have  heard  aright,  is  a  Christian  from  convic 
tion.  Evidence  made  her  a  Christian ;  stronger  evidence 
on  the  side  of  her  former  faith  can  alone  unmake  her.  " 

"  I  cannot  reason  with  her  to  that  extent,  Nichomachus,  " 
replied  the  empress.  "  I  know  not  the  grounds  of  the  com 
mon  faith,  any  more  than  those  of  Christianity  ;  I  only  know 
that  I  wish  Aurelia  was  not  a  Christian.  Will  you,  Nicho- 
machus,  reason  with  her  ?  I  remember  your  logic  of  old.  " 

"  Alas,  princess,  I  can  engage  in  no  such  task !  Where 
I  have  no  faith  myself,  I  should  in  vain  attempt  to  plant  it 
in  others.  How  either  can  I  desire  that  any  mind  should 
remain  an  hour  longer  oppressed  by  the  childish  and  abomi 
nable  superstitions  which  prevail  in  Eome  ?  I  cannot  but 
congratulate  the  excellent  Aurelia,  so  far  as  the  question  of 
truth  is  concerned,  that  in  the  place  of  the  infinite  stupidi 
ties  of  the  common  religion,  she  has  received  the,  at  least, 
pure  and  reasonable  doctrines  of  the  Christians.  You  can 
not  surely,  princess,  desire  her  re-conversion?" 

"  Only  for  her  own  sake,  —  for  the  sake  of  her  safety, 
comfort,  happiness. " 

"  But  in  her  judgment  these  are  best  and  only  secured 
where  she  now  is.  How  thinks  Mucapor?" 

"  As  I  believe, "  answered  Livia,  "  he  cares  not  in  the 
matter,  save  for  her  happiness.  He  will  not  wish  that  she 
should  have  any  faith,  except  such  as  she  herself  wishes. 
I  have  urged  him  to  use  his  power  to  constrain  her ;  but  he 
loves  liberty  himself  too  dearly,  he  says,  to  put  force  upon 
another. " 

"  He  is  a  noble  fellow, "  I  said ;  "  it  is  what  I  should 
have  looked  for  from  Mucapor. " 


128  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  In  good  sooth,  Nichomachus,  I  believe  you  still  take 
me  but  for  what  I  was  in.  Palmyra.  Who  am  I  ?" 

"  From  a  princess  you  have  become  an  empress ;  that  I 
fully  understand,  and  I  trust  never  to  be  wanting  in  the 
demeanour  that  best  becomes  a  subject ;  but  you  are  still 
Livia,  the  daughter  of  Zenobia,  and  to  her  I  feel  I  can 
never  fear  to  speak  with  sincerity. " 

"  How  omnipotent,  Nichomachus,  are  simplicity  and 
truth.  They  subdue  me  when  I  most  would  not.  They 
have  conquered  me  in  Aurelia,  and  now  in  you.  Well, 
well,  Aurelia  then  must  take  the  full  weight  of  her  uncle's 
wrath,  which  is  not  light.  " 

At  this  moment  Aurelian  himself  entered,  accompanied 
by  Fronto.  Livia  at  the  same  time  rose  and  withdrew,  not 
caring,  I  thought,  to  meet  the  eyes  of  that  basilisk,  who, 
with  the  cunning  of  a  priest,  she  saw  to  be  usurping  a 
power  over  Aurelian  which  belonged  of  right  to  her.  I  was 
also  about  to  withdraw ;  but  the  emperor  constraining  me, 
as  he  often  does,  I  remained,  although  holding  the  priest 
in  still  greater  abhorrence,  I  believe,  than  Livia  herself. 

"  While  you  have  been  absent  from  the  city,  Fronto, " 
said  Aurelian,  "  I  have  revolved  the  subjects  upon  which 
we  last  conversed,  and  no  longer  doubt  where  lie  for  me 
both  duty  and  the  truest  glory.  The  judgment  of  the  col 
leges,  lately  rendered,  agrees  both  with  yours  and  mine. 
So  that  the  very  finger  of  the  god  we  worship  points  the 
way. " 

"  I  am  glad, "  replied  Fronto,  "  for  myself,  for  you,  for 
Eome,  and  for  the  world,  that  truth  possesses  and  is  to 
sway  you.  It  will  be  a  great  day  for  Eome,  greater  than 
when  your  triumphal  array  swept  through  the  streets  with 
the  world  at  your  chariot-wheels,  when  the  enemy  that 
has  so  long  waged  successful  war  within  the  very  gates, 
shall  lie  dead  as  the  multitudes  of  Palmyra. " 

"  It  will,  Fronto.  But  first  I  have  this  to  say,  and  by 
the  gods  I  believe  it  true,  that  it  is  the  corruptions  of  our 
own  religion  and  its  ministers  that  is  the  offence  that 
smells  to  heaven,  quite  as  much  as  the  presumptuous  novel- 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  129 

ties  of  this  of  Judea.  I  perceive  you  neither  assent  to  this 
nor  like  it.  But  it  is  true,  I  am  persuaded,  as  the  gods 
themelves.  I  have  long  thought  so ;  and  while  with  one 
hand  I  aim  at  the  Galilean  atheism,  with  the  other  I  shall 
aim  at  those  who  dishonour,  by  their  vices  and  hypocrisies, 
the  religion  they  profess  to  serve. " 

Fronto  was  evidently  disturbed.  His  face  grew  pale  as 
the  frown  gathered  and  darkened  on  the  brow  of  Aurelian. 
He  answered  not,  and  Aurelian  went  on. 

"  Hellenism,  Fronto,  is  disgraced,  and  its  very  life 
threatened  by  the  vices  of  her  chief  ministers.  The  gods 
forgive  me  in  that  while  I  have  purged  my  legions  of 
drunkards  and  adulterers,  I  have  left  them  in  the  temples. 
Truly  did  you  say  I  have  had  but  one  thought  in  my 
mind,  I  have  looked  but  to  one  quarter  of  the  heavens. 
My  eyes  are  now  unsealed,  and  I  see  both  ways,  and  every 
way.  How  can  we  look  for  the  favour  of  the  gods,  while 
their  houses  of  worship  —  I  speak  it,  Fronto,  with  sorrow, 
but  wTith  the  knowledge  too  of  the  truth  of  what  I  say  — 
are  houses  of  appointment ;  while  the  very  inner  sanctuaries 
and  the  altars  themselves  are  little  better  than  the  common 
stews ;  while  the  priests  are  the  great  fathers  of  iniquity, 
corrupters  of  innocence,  the  seducers  of  youth,  examples 
themselves,  beyond  the  fear  of  rivalry,  of  all  the  vice  they 
teach  ?  At  their  tables,  too,  who  so  swollen  with  meats 
and  drink  as  the  priests  ?  Who  but  they  are  a  by-word 
throughout  the  city  for  all  that  is  vilest  ?  What  word  but 
'priest '  stands  with  all  as  an  abbreviation  and  epitome  of 
whatever  pollutes  and  denies  the  name  of  man  ?  Porphyrus 
says  that  'since  Jesus  has  been  worshipped  in  Eome,  no 
one  has  found  by  experience  the  public  assistance  of  the 
gods. '  I  believe  it ;  and  Kome  will  never  again  experience 
it  till  this  black  atheism  is  rooted  out.  But  it  is  as  true, 
I  doubt  not,  that  since  their  ministers  have  become  minis 
ters  of  demons,  and  from  teachers  of  morals  have  turned 
instructors  in  vice,  —  for  this  reason,  too,  as  well  as  for  the 
other,  the  justly-offended  deities  of  Eome  have  hid  them 
selves  from  their  impious  worshippers,  Here,  then,  Froiito, 

9 


130  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

is  a  double  labour  to  be  undergone,  a  double  duty  to  be  done, 
not  less  than  some  or  all  of  the  labours  of  Hercules.  We 
are  set  for  this  work,  and  not  till  I  have  begun  it  —  if  not 
finished  —  will  I  so  much  as  dream  of  Persia.  What  say 
you?" 

Eronto  looked  like  one  who  had  kindled  a  larger  flame 
than  he  intended,  or  knew  well  how  to  manage. 

"  The  faults  of  which  you  speak,  great  emperor,  it  can  be 
denied  by  none,  are  found  in  Eome,  and  can  never  be  other 
than  displeasing  to  the  gods.  But  then  I  would  ask,  when 
was  it  ever  otherwise  ?  In  the  earlier  ages  of  the  republic, 
I  grant,  there  was  a  virtue  in  the  people  which  we  see  not 
now.  But  that  grew  not  out  of  the  purer  administration  of 
religion,  but  was  the  product  of  the  times  in  part, —  times, 
in  comparison  with  these,  of  a  primeval  simplicity.  To 
live  well  was  easier  then.  Where  no  temptation  is,  virtue 
is  necessary.  But  then  it  ceases  to  be  virtue.  It  is  a 
quality,  not  an  acquisition, —  a  gift  of  the  gods  rather  than 
man's  meritorious  work. " 

"  That  is  very  true.     Well  ?  " 

"  There  may  be  as  much  real  virtue  now  as  then.  May 
it  not  be  so?" 

"  Perhaps  it  may.     What  then  ?" 

"  Our  complaints  of  the  present  should  be  softened.  But 
what  chiefly  I  would  urge  is  this,  that  since  those  ages  of 
early  virtue  —  after  all,  perhaps,  like  all  else  at  the  same 
period,  partly  fabulous  —  Eome  has  been  but  what  it  is, 
adorned  by  virtues  that  have  claimed  the  admiration  of  the 
world,  and  polluted  by  vices  that  have  drawn  upon  her  the 
reprobation  of  the  good,  yet  which  are  but  such  as  the  world 
shows  its  surface  over,  from  the  farthest  India  to  the  bleak 
wastes  of  Britain.  It  is,  Aurelian,  a  thing  neither  strange 
nor  new  that  vices  thrive  in  Rome.  And  long  since  have 
there  been  those  like  Nerva  and  the  good  Severus,  and  the 
late  censor,  Valerian,  who  have  aimed  at  their  correction. 
These,  and  others  who  before  and  since  have  wrought  in  the 
same  work,  have  done  well  for  the  empire.  Their  aim  has 
been  a  high  one,  and  the  favour  of  the  gods  has  been  theirs. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  131 

Aurelian  may  do  more  and  better  in  the  same  work,  seeing 
his  power  is  greater  and  his  piety  more  zealous. " 

"  These  are  admitted  truths,  Fronto,  save  the  last ;  but 
whither  do  they  tend?" 

"  To  this :  Because,  Aurelian,  vice  has  been  in  Eome, 
because  even  the  priesthood  has  been  corrupt,  and  the  tem 
ples  themselves  the  sties  you  say  they  now  are, —  for  this 
have  the  gods  ever  withdrawn  their  protection  ?  Has  Rome 
ever  been  the  less  prosperous  ?  What  is  more,  can  we  con 
ceive  that  they  who  made  us  of  their  fiery  mould,  so  prone 
to  violate  the  bounds  of  moderation,  would  for  yielding  to 
such  instincts  interpose  in  wrath,  as  if  that  had  happened 
which  was  not  foreseen,  and  against  which  they  had  made 
sure  provision  ?  Are  the  heavens  to  blaze  with  the  fires  of 
the  last  day,  thunders  to  roll  as  if  earth  were  shaken  to  her 
centre,  the  entrails  of  dumb  beasts  to  utter  forth  terrific 
prophecy  of  great  and  impending  woe,  because  forsooth  the 
people  of  Eome  are  by  no  means  patterns  of  purity;  be 
cause,  perchance,  within  the  temples  themselves  an  im 
morality  may  have  been  purposed  or  perpetrated ;  because 
even  the  priests  themselves  have  not  been  or  are  not 
white  and  spotless  as  their  robes?" 

"  There  seems  some  reason  in  what  you  say.  " 

"  But,  great  emperor,  take  me  not  as  if  I  would  make 
myself  the  shield  of  vice,  to  hide  it  from  the  blow  that 
would  extirpate  or  cure  it.  I  see  and  bewail  the  corrup 
tions  of  the  age ;  but  as  they  seem  not  fouler  than  those  of 
ages  which  are  past,  especially  than  those  of  Nero  and  of 
Commodus,  I  cannot  think  that  it  is  against  these  the  gods 
have  armed  themselves,  but,  Aurelian,  against  an  evil 
which  has  been  long  growing  and  often  assailed  and 
checked,  but  which  has  now  got  to  such  a  giant  size  and 
strength  that  except  it  be  absolutely  hewn  down,  and  the 
least  roots  torn  up  and  burned,  both  the  altars  of  our  gods, 
and  their  capital  called  eternal,  and  the  empire  itself,  now 
holding  the  world  in  its  wide-spread,  peace-giving  arms, 
are  vanished,  and  anarchy,  impiety,  atheism,  and  the  rank 
vices  which  in  such  times  would  be  engendered,  shall  then 


132  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

reign  omnipotent,  and  fill  the  very  compass  of  the  earth, 
Christ  being  the  universal  king.  It  is  against  this  the 
heavens  have  arrayed  their  power,  and  to  arouse  an  un 
grateful,  thoughtless,  impious  people,  and  their  sleeping 
king,  that  they  have  spoken  in  thunder.  " 

"  Fronto,  I  almost  believe  you  right.  " 

"  Had  we,  Aurelian,  but  the  eyes  of  moles  when  the  pur 
poses  of  the  gods  are  to  be  deciphered  in  the  character  of 
events,  we  should  long  since  have  seen  that  the  long  series 
of  disasters  which  have  befallen  the  empire  since  the  Gali 
lean  atheism  has  taken  root  here,  have  pointed  but  to  that 
—  that  they  have  been  a  chastisement  of  our  supineriess 
and  sloth.  When  did  Eome,  almighty  Rome,  ever  before 
tremble  at  the  name  of  barbarian,  or  fly  before  their  arms  ? 
While  now  is  it  not  much  that  we  are  able  to  keep  them 
from  the  very  walls  of  Eome  ?  They  now  swarm  the  Ger 
man  forests  in  multitudes  which  no  man  can  count ;  their 
hoarse  murmurs  can  be  heard  even  here,  ready  soon  as  the 
reins  of  empire  shall  fall  into  the  hands  of  another  Gallie- 
nus,  to  pour  themselves  upon  the  plains  of  Italy,  changing 
our  fertile  lands  and  gorgeous  cities  into  another  Dacia. 
These  things  were  not  so  once ;  and  what  cause  there  is  in 
Eome  so  deep  and  high  and  broad  to  resolve  for  us  the 
reason  of  this  averted  face  of  Heaven,  save  that  of  which 
I  speak,  I  cannot  guess.  " 

"  Nor  I, "  said  Aurelian ;  "  I  confess  it.  It  must  be  so. 
My  work  is  not  three,  nor  two,  but  one.  I  have  brought 
peace  to  the  empire  in  all  its  borders.  My  legions  all  rest 
upon  their  arms.  Not  a  sword  but  is  in  its  sheath ;  there 
for  the  present  let  it  be  glued  fast.  The  season,  so  pro 
pitious  for  the  great  work  of  bringing  again  the  empire 
into  peace  and  harmony  with  the  angry  gods,  seems  to 
have  been  provided  by  themselves.  How  think  you, 
Nichomachus?" — turning  suddenly  to  me,  as  if  now  for 
the  first  time  aware  that  I  was  standing  at  his  side. 

I  answered  that  "  I  was  slow  to  receive  the  judgment  of 
Fronto  or  of  himself  in  that  matter ;  that  I  could  not  be 
lieve  that  the  gods,  who  should  be  examples  of  the  virtues 


FROM  PISO  TO   FAUSTA.  133 

to  mankind,  would  ever  ordain  such  sufferings  for  their 
creatures  as  must  ensue  were  the  former  violences  to  be 
renewed  against  the  Christians.  So  far  from  thinking 
them  a  nuisance  in  the  state,  I  considered  them  a  benefit.  " 

"  The  Greek,  too, "  said  Fronto,  breaking  in,  "  is  then  a 
Christian !  " 

"  I  am  not  a  Christian,  priest,  nor  as  I  think  shall  ever 
be  one ;  but  far  sooner  would  I  be  one  than  take  my  faith 
from  thee,  which,  however  it  might  guide  me  well  through 
the  wine-vaults  of  the  temple,  or  to  the  best  stalls  of  the 
market  or  to  the  selectest  retreats  of  the  suburra,  would 
scarce  show  the  way  to  heaven.  I  affront  but  the  corrup 
tions  of  religion,  Aurelian.  Sincerity  I  honour  everywhere  ; 
hypocrisy,  nowhere. "  I  thought  Fronto  would  have  torn 
ine  with  his  teeth  and  nails.  His  white  face  grew  whiter, 
but  he  stood  still. 

"  Say  on, "  said  the  emperor,  "  though  your  bluntness  be 
more  even  than  Roman.  " 

"  I  think, "  I  continued,  "  the  Christians  a  benefit  to  the 
state,  for  this  reason ;  not  that  their  religion  is  what  they 
pretend,  a  heaven-descended  one,  but  that  by  its  greater 
strictness  it  serves  to  rebuke  the  common  faith  and  those 
who  hold  it,  and  infuse  into  it  something  of  its  own  spirit. 
All  new  systems,  as  I  take  it,  in  their  first  beginning  are 
strict  and  severe.  It  is  thus  by  this  quality  they  super 
sede  older  and  degenerate  ones ;  not  because  they  are  truer, 
perhaps,  but  because  they  are  purer.  There  is  a  prejudice 
among  men  that  the  gods,  whoever  they  may  be,  and 
whatever  they  may  be,  love  virtue  in  men,  and  for  that 
accept  them.  When,  therefore,  a  religion  fails  to  recom 
mend  and  enforce  virtue,  it  fails  to  meet  the  judgment  of 
men  concerning  the  true  character  and  office  of  a  religion, 
and  so,  with  the  exception  of  such  beasts,  and  such  there 
always  are,  who  esteem  a  faith  in  proportion  to  its  corrup 
tions,  they  look  with  favour  upon  any  new  one  which 
promises  to  be  what  they  want.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
this  religion  from  Judea  has  made  its  way  so  far  and  so 
soon.  But  it  will  by  and  by  degenerate  from  its  high 


134  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

estate,  just  as  others  have  done,  and  be  succeeded  by  an 
other  that  shall  raise  still  higher  expectations.  In  the 
mean  time,  it  serves  the  state  well  both  by  the  virtue 
which  it  enjoins  upon  its  own  subjects,  and  the  influence 
it  exerts  by  indirection  upon  those  of  the  prevalent  faiths, 
and  upon  the  general  manners  and  morals. " 

"  What  you  say, "  observed  Aurelian,  musingly,  "  has 
some  show  of  sense.  So  much  at  least  may  be  said  for  this 
religion. " 

"  Yet  a  lie, "  said  Fronto,  "  can  be  none  the  less  hateful 
to  the  gods,  because  it  sometimes  plays  the  part  of  truth. 
It  is  a  lie  still.  " 

"  Hold, "  said  Aurelian.  "  Let  us  hear  the  Greek.  What 
else?" 

"  I  little  thought, "  I  replied,  "  as  I  rode  toward  the  city 
this  morning,  that  I  should  at  this  hour  be  standing  in  the 
presence  of  the  emperor  of  Eome,  a  defender  of  the  Chris 
tians.  I  am  in  no  manner  whatever  fitted  for  the  task. 
My  knowledge  is  nothing;  my  opinions  therefore  worth 
but  little,  grounded  as  they  are  upon  the  loose  reports 
which  reach  my  ear  concerning  the  character  and  doctrines 
of  this  sect,  or  upon  what  little  observation  I  have  made 
upon  those  whom  I  have  known  of  that  persuasion.  Still 
I  honour  and  esteem  them,  and  such  aid  as  I  can  bring 
them  in  their  straits  shall  be  very  gladly  theirs.  I  will, 
however,  add  only  one  thing  more  to  what  I  have  said  in 
answer  to  Fronto,  who  represents  the  gods  as  more  con 
cerned  to  destroy  the  Christians  than  to  reform  the  common 
religion  and  the  public  morals.  I  cannot  think  that.  Am 
I  to  believe  that  the  gods,  the  supreme  directors  of  human 
affairs,  and  whose  aim  must  be  man's  highest  well-being, 
regard  with  more  abhorrence  an  error  than  a  vice,  —  an 
error,  too,  that  acts  more  beneficently  than  most  truth,  and 
is  the  very  seed  of  the  purest  virtues  ?  I  can  by  no  means 
believe  it.  So  that  if  I  were  interpreter  of  the  late  omens, 
I  should  rather  see  them  pointed  at  the  vices  which  pre 
vail, —  at  the  corruptions  of  the  public  morals,  which  are 
fouler  than  aught  I  had  so  much  as  dreamed  of  before  I  was 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  135 

myself  a  witness  of  them,  and  may  well  be  supposed  to 
startle  the  gods  from  their  rest,  and  draw  down  their  hot 
test  thunderbolts.  But  I  will  not  say  more,  when  there 
must  be  so  many  able  to  do  so  much  better  in  behalf  of 
what  I  must  still  believe  to  be  a  good  cause.  Let  me  en 
treat  the  emperor,  before  he  condemns,  to  hear.  There  are 
those  in  Rome,  of  warm  hearts,  sound  heads,  and  honest 
souls,  from  whom,  if  from  any  on  earth,  truth  may  be 
heard,  and  who  will  set  in  its  just  light  a  doctrine  too 
excellent  to  suffer  as  it  must  in  my  hands.  n 

"  They  shall  be  heard,  Nichomachus.  Not  even  a  Jew 
or  a  Christian  shall  suffer  without  that  grace  ;  though  I  see 
not  how  it  can  avail. " 

"  If  it  should  not  avail  to  plant  in  your  mind  so  good 
an  opinion  of  their  way  as  exists  in  mine,"  I  resumed, 
"  it  might  yet  to  soften  it  and  dispose  it  to  a  more  lenient 
conduct ;  and  so  many  are  the  miseries  of  life  in  the  natural 
order  of  events,  that  the  humane  heart  must  desire  to 
diminish,  not  increase  them.  Has  Aurelian  ever  heard 
the  name  of  Probus  the  Christian?" 

The  emperor  turned  toward  Fronto  with  a  look  of  inquiry. 

"  Yes, "  said  the  priest,  "  you  have  heard  his  name.  But 
that  of  Felix,  the  bishop  of  the  Christians,  as  he  is  called, 
is  more  familiar  to  you.  " 

"  Felix,  Felix,  that  is  the  name  I  have  heard  most ;  but 
Probus  too,  if  I  err  not.  " 

"  He  has  been  named  to  you,  I  am  certain, "  added  Fronto. 
"  He  is  the  real  head  of  the  Nazarenes, —  the  bishop  but  a 
painted  one. " 

"  Probus  is  he  who  turned  young  Piso's  head.  Is  it 
not  so?" 

"  The  very  same;  and  beside  his,  the  lady  Julia's. " 

"  No,  that  was  by  another,  one  Paul  of  Antioch,  also  a 
bishop,  and  a  fast  friend  of  the  queen.  The  Christians 
themselves  have  of  late  set  upon  him,  as  they  were  so  many 
bloodhounds,  being  bent  upon  expelling  him  from  Antioch. 
It  is  not  long  since,  in  accordance  with  the  decree  of  some 
assembled  bishops  there,  I  issued  a  rescript  dislodging  him 


136  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

from  his  post,  and  planting  in  his  place  one  Domnus.  If 
our  purposes  prosper,  the  ejected  and  dishonoured  priest 
may  find  himself  at  least  safer,  if  humbler.  Probus  —  I 
shall  remember  him.  The  name  leads  my  thoughts  to 
Thrace,  where  our  greater  Probus  waits  for  me.  " 

"  From  Probus  the  Christian, "  I  said,  "  you  will  receive, 
whenever  you  shall  admit  him  to  your  presence,  a  true 
account  of  the  nature  of  the  Christians'  faith  and  of  the 
actual  condition  of  their  community, —  all  which  can  be 
had  only  from  a  member  of  it.  " 

But  little  more  was  said,  when  I  departed  and  took  my 
way  again  towards  Tibur. 

It  seemed  to  me,  from  the  manner  of  the  emperor,  more 
than  from  what  he  said,  that  he  was  settled,  bound  up  to 
the  bad  work  of  an  assault  upon  the  Christians.  To  what 
extent  it  was  in  his  mind  to  go  I  could  not  judge ;  for  his 
language  was  ambiguous,  and  sometimes  contradictory. 
But  that  the  darkest  designs  were  harboured  by  him,  over 
which  he  was  brooding  with  a  mind  naturally  superstitious, 
but  now  almost  in  a  state  of  exasperation  from  the  late 
events,  was  most  evident. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  137 


LETTEE  VI. 

FROM    PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

THE  ROMAN  PERFUMER.  —  SPURIUS.  —  MARCELLINUS.  —  ART  IN 
ANCIENT  ROME.  —  AURELIA  IMPRISONED.  —  THE  PICTURE.  — 
ISAAC'S  MISTAKE.  —  MARTYRDOM  OF  THE  PRINCESS  AURE 
LIA.  —  THE  JEW'S  FRIENDSHIP.  —  His  NEW  HOPES.  —  JULIA'S 
RESOLUTION. 

HAVING  confined  myself,    in  my  last  letter,   to  the 
affairs  of  Marcus  and  Lucilia,  I  now,  Fausta,  turn 
to  those* which  concern  us  and  Eome. 

I  found  on  my  return  to  the  city  that  the  general  anxiety 
concerning  the  designs  of  Aurelian  had  greatly  increased. 
Many  rumours  were  current  of  dark  sayings  of  his,  which, 
whether  founded  in  truth  or  not,  contributed  to  alarm  even 
the  most  hopeful,  and  raise  serious  apprehensions  for  the 
fate  of  this  much  and  long  suffering  religion.  Julia  herself 
partakes,  I  cannot  say  of  the  alarm,  but  of  the  anxiety. 
She  has  less  confidence  than  I  have  in  the  humanity  of  the 
emperor.  In  the  honours  heaped  upon  Zenobia,  and  the 
favours  shown  herself  and  Vabalathus,  she  sees  not  so  much 
the  outpouring  of  benevolent  feelings,  as  a  rather  ostenta 
tious  display  of  imperial  generosity,  and  what  is  called 
Eoman  magnanimity.  For  the  true  character  of  the  man 
she  looks  into  the  graves  of  Palmyra,  upon  her  smoking 
ruins,  and  upon  the  blood,  yet  hardly  dry,  that  stains  the 
pavements  of  the  Coelian.  Julia  may  be  right,  though  I 
am  unwilling  to  believe  it.  Her  judgment  is  entitled  to 
the  more  weight  in  this  severe  decision,  that  it  is  ever  in 
clined  to  the  side  of  a  too  favourable  opinion  of  character 
and  motive.  You  know  her  nature  too  well  to  believe  her 
capable  of  exaggerating  the  faults  of  even  the  humblest. 


138  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

Yet,  though  such  are  her  apprehensions,  she  manifests  the 
same  calm  and  even  carriage  as  on  the  approach  of  more 
serious  troubles  in  Palmyra.  She  is  full  of  deepest  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  Christians,  and  by  many  families  of 
the  poorer  sort  is  resorted  to  continually  for  aid,  for  counsel, 
or  sympathy.  Not  one  in  the  whole  community  is  a  more 
frequent  and  devout  attendant  upon  the  services  of  the 
church ;  and  I  need  not  add  that  I  am  her  constant  com 
panion.  The  performance  of  this  duty  gives  a  value  to 
life  in  Eome  such  as  it  never  had  before.  Every  seventh 
day,  as  with  the  Jews,  only  upon  a  different  day,  do  the 
Christians  assemble  for  the  purposes  of  religious  worship. 
And  I  can  assure  you  it  is  with  no  trifling  accessions  of 
strength  for  patient  doing  and  patient  bearing,  that  we 
return  to  our  every-day  affairs,  after  having  listened  to  the 
prayers  and  the  reasonings  or  exhortations  of  Probus. 

So  great  is  the  difference  in  my  feelings  and.  opinions 
from  what  they  were  before  I  left  Eome  for  Palmyra,  that 
it  is  with  difficulty  I  persuade  myself  that  I  am  the  same 
person.  Between  Piso  the  Pyrrhonist  and  Piso  the  Chris 
tian  the  distance  seems  immeasurable ;  yet  in  how  short 
a  time  it  has  been  passed !  I  cannot  say  that  I  did  not 
enjoy  existence  and  value  it  in  my  former  state,  but  I  can 
say  that  my  enjoyment  of  it  is  infinitely  heightened  as  a 
Christian,  and  the  rate  at  which  I  value  it  infinitely  raised. 
Born  and  nurtured  as  I  was,  with  Portia  for  my  mother,  a 
palace  for  my  home,  Eome  for  my  country  and  capital, 
offering  all  the  luxuries  of  the  earth,  and  affording  all  the 
means  I  could  desire  for  carrying  on  researches  in  study  of 
every  kind,  surrounded  by  friends  of  the  noblest  and  best 
families  in  the  city,— I  could  not  but  enjoy  life  in  some 
very  important  sense.  While  mere  youth  lasted,  and  my 
thoughts  never  wandered  beyond  the  glittering  forms  of 
things,  no  one  could  be  happier  or  more  contented.  All 
was  fair  and  beautiful  around  me ;  what  could  I  ask  for 
more?  I  was  satisfied  and  filled.  But  by  and  by  my 
dream  of  life  was  disturbed,  my  sleep  broken.  Natural 
questions  began  to  propose  themselves  for  my  solution,  — 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  139 

such,  I  suppose,  as  sooner  or  later  spring  up  in  every 
bosom.  I  began  to  speculate  about  myself,  about  the 
very  self  that  had  been  so  long  so  busy  about  everything 
else  beside  itself.  I  wished  to  know  something  of  niy  con 
stitution,  of  my  origin,  my  present  condition,  my  ultimate 
fate.  It  seemed  to  me  I  was  too  rare  and  curious  a  piece 
of  work  to  go  to  ruin,  final  and  inevitable, —  perhaps  to 
morrow;  at  all  events,  in  a  very  few  years.  Of  futurity 
I  had  heard,  and  of  Elysiurn,  just  as  I  had  heard  of 
Jupiter,  greatest  and  best;  but  with  my  earliest  youth 
these  things  had  faded  from  my  mind,  or  had  already  taken 
upon  themselves  the  character  of  fable.  My  Virgil,  in 
which  I  early  received  my  lessons  of  language,  at  once 
divested  them  of  all  their  air  of  reality,  and  left  them 
naked  fiction.  The  other  poets  (Livy  helping  them)  did 
the  same  work,  and  completed  it.  But  bent  with  most 
serious  and  earnest  desires  toward  truth,  on  what  seemed  to 
me  the  greatest  theme,  I  could  not  remain  where  I  was,  and 
turned  with  highest  expectations  to  the  philosophers.  I 
not  only  read,  but  I  studied  and  pondered  them  with  dili 
gence,  and  with  as  sincere  a  desire  of  arriving  at  truth  as 
ever  scholar  sat  at  the  feet  of  his  instructor.  The  result  was 
anything  but  satisfying.  I  left  off  a  universal  sceptic,  so 
far  as  human  systems  of  philosophy  are  concerned,  so  far 
as  they  pretended  to  solve  the  enigma  of  God  and  man,  of 
life  and  death ;  but  with  a  heart  yearning  after  truth,  and 
even  full  of  faith,  if  that  may  be  called  faith  which  would 
instinctively  lay  hold  upon  a  God  and  a  hope  of  immor 
tality,  though  beaten  back  once  and  again  by  every  form 
which  the  syllogism  could  assume. 

This  was  my  state,  Fausta,  when  I  was  found  by  Chris 
tianity  ;  without  faith,  and  yet  with  it ;  doubting  and  yet 
believing ;  rejecting  philosophy,  but  leaning  upon  nature ; 
dissatisfied,  but  hoping.  I  cannot  easily  find  words  to  tell 
you  the  change  which  Christian  faith  has  wrought  within 
me.  All  I  can  say  is  this,  that  I  am  a  new  man ;  I  am 
made  over  again ;  I  am  born,  as  it  were,  into  another  world. 
Where  darkness  once  was,  there  is  now  light  brighter  than 


140  LETTERS  JFROM  ROME. 

the  sun ;  where  doubt  was,  there  is  now  certainty.  I  have 
knowledge  arid  truth  for  error  and  perplexity.  The  inner 
world  of  my  mind  is  resplendent  with  a  day  whose  lumi 
nary  will  never  set.  And  even  the  outer  world  of  appear 
ances  and  forms  shines  more  gloriously,  and  has  an  air  of 
reality  which  before  it  never  had.  It  used  to  seem  to  me 
like  the  gorgeous  fabric  of  a  dream,  and  as  if  at  some  un 
expected  moment  it  might  melt  into  air  and  nothingness, 
and  I  and  all  men  and  things  with  it ;  for  there  appeared 
to  be  no  purpose  in  it ;  it  came  from  nothing,  it  achieved 
nothing,  and  certainly  seemed  to  conduct  to  nothing. 
Men,  like  insects,  came  and  weot ;  were  born  and  died ; 
and  that  was  all.  Nothing  was  accomplished,  nothing 
perfected.  But  now,  nature  seems  to  me  stable  and  eternal 
as  God  himself.  The  world  being  the  great  birthplace  and 
nursery  of  these  myriads  of  creatures,  made,  as  I  ever  con 
ceived,  in  a  divine  likeness,  after  some  godlike  model, — 
for  what  spirit  of  other  spheres  can  be  more  beautiful  than 
a  perfect  man  or  a  perfect  woman,  each  animated  with  the 
principle  of  immortality  ?  —  there  is  a  reason  for  its  exist 
ence  and  its  perpetuity  from  whose  force  the  mind  cannot 
escape.  It  is,  and  it  ever  will  be ;  and  mankind  upon  it, 
a  continually  happier  and  more  virtuous  brotherhood. 

Yes,  Fausta,  to  me  as  a  Christian  everything  is  new, 
everything  better;  the  inward  world,  the  outward  world, 
the  present  and  the  future.  Life  is  a  worthier  gift,  and  a 
richer  possession.  I  am  to  myself  an  object  of  a  thousand 
fold  greater  interest,  and  every  other  human  being,  from  a 
poor  animal  that  was  scarce  worthy  its  wretched  existence, 
starts  up  into  a  god,  for  whom  the  whole  earth  may  one 
day  become  too  narrow  a  field  either  to  till  or  rule.  I  arn 
accordingly  ready  to  labour  both  for  myself  and  others.  I 
once  held  myself  too  cheap  to  do  much  even  for  myself; 
for  others  I  would  do  nothing,  except  to  feed  the  hunger 
that  directly  appealed  to  me,  or  relieve  the  wretchedness 
that  made  me  equally  wretched.  Not  so  now.  I  myself 
am  a  different  being,  and  others  are  different.  I  am  ready 
to  toil  for  such  beings,  to  suffer  for  them.  They  are  too 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  141 

valuable  to  be  neglected,  abused,  insulted,  trodden  into  the 
dust.  They  must  be  defended  and  rescued  whenever  their 
fellow-meri  —  wholly  ignorant  of  what  they  are  and  what 
themselves  are  about  —  would  oppress  them.  More  than 
all  do  they  need  truth,  effectually  to  enlighten  and  redeem 
them,  and  truth  they  must  have  at  whatever  cost.  Let 
them  only  once  know  what  they  are,  and  the  world  is  safe. 
Christianity  tells  them  this,  and  Christianity  they  must 
have.  The  state  must  not  stand  between  man  and  truth ; 
or  if  it  do,  it  must  be  rebuked  by  those  who  have  the 
knowledge  and  the  courage,  and  made  to  resume  its  proper 
place  and  office.  Knowing  what  has  been  done  for  me  by 
Christian  truth,  I  can  never  be  content  until  to  others  the 
same  good  is  at  least  offered,  and  I  shall  devote  what  power 
and  means  I  possess  to  this  task.  The  prospect  now  is  of 
opposition  and  conflict.  But  it  dismays  not  me  nor  Julia, 
nor  any  of  this  faith  who  have  truly  adopted  its  principles. 
For  if  the  mere  love  of  fame,  the  excitement  of  a  contest, 
the  prospect  of  pay  or  plunder,  will  carry  innumerable 
legions  to  the  battle-field  to  leave  there  their  bones,  how 
much  more  shall  the  belief  of  a  Christian  arm  him  for  even 
worse  encounters  ?  It  were  pitiful,  indeed,  if  a  posses 
sion  as  valuable  as  that  of  truth  could  not  inspire  a  heroism 
which  the  love  of  fame  or  of  money  can. 

These  things  I  have  said  to  put  you  fully  in  possession 
of  our  present  position,  plans,  and  purposes.  The  fate  of 
Christianity  is  to  us  now  as  absorbing  an  interest  as  once 
was  the  fate  of  Palmyra. 

I  had  been  in  the  city  only  long  enough  to  give  Julia  a 
full  account  of  my  melancholy  visit  in  the  country,  and 
to  write  a  part  of  it  to  you,  when  I  walked  forth  to  observe 
for  myself  the  signs  which  the  city  might  offer,  either  to 
confirm  or  allay  the  apprehensions  which  were  begun  to  be 
felt. 

I  took  my  way  over  the  Palatine,  desiring  to  see  the  ex 
cellent  Tacitus,  whose  house  is  there.  He  was  absent, 
being  suddenly  called  to  Baise.  I  turned  toward  the 
Forum,  wishing  to  perform  a  commission  for  Julia  at  the 


142  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

shop  of  Civilis,  —  still  alive,  and  still  compounding  his 
sweets,  — which  is  now  about  midway  between  the  slope 
of  the  hill  and  the  Forum,  having  been  removed  from  its 
former  place  where  you  knew  it,  under  the  eaves  of  the 
Temple  of  Peace.  The  little  man  of  "  smells"  was  at  his 
post,  more  crooked  than  ever,  but  none  the  less  exquisitely 
arrayed,  —  his  wig  befitting  a  young  Bacchus  rather  than  a 
dried  shred  of  a  man  beyond  his  seventieth  year.  All  the 
gems  of  the  East  glittered  on  his  thin  fingers,  and  diamonds 
that  might  move  the  envy  of  Livia  hung  from  his  ears. 
The  gales  of  Arabia,  burdened  with  the  fragrance  of  every 
flower  of  that  sunny  clime,  seemed  concentrated  into  an 
atmosphere  around  him ;  and  in  truth,  I  suppose  a  speci 
men  of  every  pot  and  phial  of  his  vast  shop  might  be  found 
upon  his  person,  concealed  in  gold  boxes,  or  hanging  in  the 
merest  fragments  of  bottles  upon  chains  of  silver  or  gold, 
or  deposited  in  folds  of  his  ample  robes.  He  was  odour  in 
substantial  form.  He  saluted  me  with  the  grace  of  which 
he  only  in  Rome  is  master,  and  with  a  deference  that  could 
not  have  been  exceeded  had  I  been  Aurelian.  I  told  him 
that  I  wished  to  procure  a  perfume  of  Eygptian  origin  and 
name,  called  "  Cleopatra's  tears, "  and  which  was  reputed 
to  convey  to  the  organs  of  smell  an  odour  more  exquisite 
than  that  of  the  rarest  Persian  rose  or  choicest  gums  of 
Arabia.  The  eyes  of  Civilis  kindled  with  the  fires  of  twenty, 
when  love's  anxious  brow  is  suddenly  cleared  by  that  lit 
tle,  but  all-comprehensive  word,  yes,  as  he  answered, — 

"  Noble  Piso,  I  honour  you.  I  never  doubted  your  taste. 
It  is  seen  in  your  palace,  in  your  dress,  nay,  in  the  very 
costume  of  your  incomparable  slave,  who  has  done  me  the 
honour  to  call  here  on  your  service.  But  now  have  you 
given  of  it  the  last  and  highest  proof.  Never  has  the  wit 
of  man  before  compounded  an  essence  like  that  which  lies 
buried  in  this  porphyry  vase.  * 

"  You  do  not  mean  that  I  am  to  take  away  a  vase  of  that 
size  ?  I  do  not  purchase  essences  by  the  pound.  " 

Civilis  seemed  as  if  he  would  have  fainted,  so  oppressed 
was  he  by  this  display  of  ignorance.  My  character,  I 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  143 

found,  was  annihilated  in  a  moment.  When  his  presence 
of  mind  was  recovered,  he  said, — 

"  This  vase  !  Great  Jupiter !  The  price  of  your  palace 
upon  the  Ccelian  would  scarce  purchase  it !  Were  its  con 
tents  suddenly  let  loose  and  spilled  upon  the  air,  not  Rome 
only,  but  Italy  would  be  bathed  in  the  transporting  and 
life-giving  fragrance !  Now  I  shall  remove  the  cover,  first 
giving  you  to  know  that  within  this  largest  vase  there  is 
a  number  of  smaller  bottles,  some  of  glass,  others  of  gold, 
in  each  of  which  are  contained  a  few  of  the  tears,  and 
which  are  warranted  to  retain  their  potency,  and  lend 
their  celestial  peculiarity  to  your  clothes  or  your  apart 
ments,  without  loss  or  diminution,  in  the  least  appreciable 
degree,  during  the  life  of  the  purchaser.  Now,  if  it  please 
you,  bend  this  way  and  receive  the  air  which  I  shall  pres 
ently  set  free.  How  think  you,  noble  Piso?  Art  not  a 
new  man  ?  " 

"  I  am  new  in  my  knowledge,  such  as  it  is,  Civilis.  It 
is  certainly  agreeable,  most  agreeable.  " 

"Agreeable!  So  is  Mount  Etna  a  pretty  hill!  —  so  is 
Aurelian  a  fair  soldier !  —  so  is  the  sun  a  good-sized  brazier ! 
I  beseech  thee  find  another  word.  Let  it  not  go  forth  to 
all  Rome  that  the  most  noble  Piso  deems  the  tears  of  Cleo 
patra  'agreeable' !  " 

"  I  can  think  no  otherwise, "  I  replied.  "  It  is  really 
agreeable,  and  reminds  me  more  than  anything  else  of  the 
oldest  Falernian  just  rubbed  between  the  palms  of  the  hand, 
which  you  will  allow  is  to  compliment  it  in  no  moderate 
measure.  But  confess  now,  Civilis,  that  you  have  a  hun 
dred  perfumes  more  delicious  than  this.  " 

"  Piso,  I  may  say  this :  they  have  been  so.  " 

"  Ah,  I  understand  you ;  you  admit,  then,  it  is  the  force 
of  fashion  that  lends  this  extraordinary  odour  to  the  por 
phyry  vase. " 

"  Truly,  noble  Piso,  it  has  somewhat  to  do  with  it,  it 
must  be  acknowledged. " 

"  It  would  be  curious,  Civilis,  to  know  what  name  this 
bore,  and  in  what  case  it  was  bestowed,  and  at  what  price 


144  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

sold,  before  the  Empress  Livia  fancied  it.  I  think  it 
should  have  been  named  'Livia's  smiles. '  It  would  at  any 
rate  be  a  good  name  for  it  at  thy  shop  in  Alexandria. " 

"  You  are  facetious,  noble  Piso.  But  that  last  hint  is  too 
good  to  be  thrown  away.  Truly,  you  are  a  man  of  the 
world,  whose  distinction  I  suppose  is,  that  he  has  eyes  in 
the  hind  part  of  his  head  as  well  as  before.  But  what 
blame  can  be  mine  for  such  dealing  ?  I  am  driven ;  I  am 
a  slave.  It  is  fashion  that  works  these  wonders,  not  I. 
And  there  is  no  goddess,  Piso,  like  her.  She  is  the  true 
creator.  Upon  that  which  is  worthless  can  she  bestow  in 
a  moment  inestimable  value.  What  is  despised  to-day  she 
can  exalt  to-morrow  to  the  very  pinnacle  of  honour.  She 
is  my  maker.  One  day  I  was  poor ;  the  goddess  took  me 
by  the  hand  and  smiled  upon  me,  and  the  next  day  I  was 
rich.  It  was  the  favourite  mistress  of  Maximin,  who  one 
day,  —  her  chariot,  Piso,  so  chance  would  have  it,  broke 
down  at  my  door,  when  she  took  refuge  in  my  little  shop, 
then  at  the  corner  of  the  street  Castor,  as  you  turn  towards 
the  Tiber, — purchasing  a  particular  perfume,  of  which  I 
had  large  store,  and  boasted  much  to  her,  gave  me  such 
currency  among  the  rich  and  noble  that  from  that  hour 
my  fortune  was  secure.  No  one  bought  a  perfume  after 
wards  but  of  Civilis.  Civilis  was  soon  the  next  person  to 
the  emperor.  And  to  this  hour  has  this  same  goddess  be 
friended  me.  And  many  an  old  jar,  packed  away  in  the 
midst  of  rubbish  in  dark  recesses,  now  valueless,  do  I  look 
upon  as  nevertheless  so  much  gold,  —  its  now  despised  con 
tents  one  day  to  disperse  themselves  upon  kings  and  nobles, 
in  the  senate  and  the  theatres.  I  need  not  tell  you  what 
this  diminutive  bottle  might  have  been  had  for  before  the 
Kalends.  Yet,  by  Hercules,  should  I  have  sold  it  even 
then  for  less  ?  for  should  I  not  have  divined  its  fortune  ? 
The  wheel  is  ever  turning,  turning.  But,  most  excellent 
Piso,  men  of  the  world  are  ever  generous  —  " 

"  Fear  nothing,  Civilis,  I  will  not  betray  you.  I  believe 
you  have  spoken  real  truths.  Besides,  with  Livia  on  your 
side,  what  could  all  Home  do  to  hurt  you  ?  " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  145 

"  Most  true,  most  true.  But,  may  I  ask, —  for  one  thing 
has  made  me  astonished,  — how  is  it  that  you,  being  now, 
as  report  goes,  a  Christian,  should  come  to  me  to  purchase 
essences  ?  When  I  heard  you  had  so  named  yourself,  I 
looked  to  lose  your  custom  forever  after.  " 

"  Why  should  not  a  Christian  man  smell  of  that  which 
is  agreeable  as  well  as  another  ?  " 

"  Ah !  that  I  cannot  say.  I  have  heard,  —  I  know  nothing, 
Piso,  beyond  essences  and  perfumes, —  but  I  have  heard  the 
Christians  forbear  such  things,  calling  them  vanities;  just 
as  they  withdraw,  too,  'tis  said,  from  the  theatres  and  the 
circuses.  " 

"  They  do  indeed  withdraw  from  the  theatres  and  cir 
cuses,  Civilis,  because  the  entertainments  witnessed  there 
do,  as  they  judge,  serve  but  to  make  beasts  of  men ;  they 
minister  to  vice.  But  in  a  sweet  smell  they  see  no  harm, 
any  more  than  in  a  silk  dress,  or  well-proportioned  build 
ings,  or  magnificent  porticos.  Why  should  it  be  very 
wrong  or  very  foolish  to  catch  the  odours  which  the  Divine 
providence  plants  in  the  rose,  and  in  a  thousand  flowers 
and  gums,  as  they  wander  forth  upon  the  air  for  our  de 
light,  and  fasten  them  up  in  these  little  bottles  ?  by  which 
means  we  can  breathe  them  at  all  times, —  in  winter  as 
well  as  in  summer.  Thy  shop,  Civilis,  is  but  a  flower- 
garden  in  another  form  and  under  another  name.  " 

"  I  shall  think  better  of  the  Christians  for  this.  I  hardly 
believed  the  report  indeed,  for  it  were  most  unnatural  and 
strange  to  find  fault  with  odours  such  as  these.  I  shall 
lament  the  more  that  they  are  to  be  so  dealt  with  by  the 
emperor.  Hast  thou  heard  what  is  reported  this  morning  ?  " 

"  No ;  I  am  but  just  from  home.     How  does  it  go  ?  " 

"  Why,  'tis  nothing  other  nor  less  than  this,  that  Aure- 
lian,  being  resolved  to  change  the  Christians  all  back  again 
into  what  they  were,  has  begun  with  his  niece  the  Prin 
cess  Aurelia,  and  with  violence  insists  that  she  shall  sacri 
fice  ;  which  she  steadfastly  refuses  to  do.  Some  say  that 
she  has  not  been  seen  at  the  palace  for  several  days,  and 
that  she  is  fast  locked  up  in  the  great  prison  on  the  Tiber. " 

10 


146  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  I  do  not  believe  a  word  of  it,  Civilis.  The  emperor  has 
of  late  used  harsh  language  of  the  Christians,  I  know. 
But  for  one  word  he  has  spoken,  the  city  has  coined  ten. 
And,  moreover,  the  words  of  the  priest  Fronto  are  quoted 
for  those  of  Aurelian.  It  is  well  known  he  is  especially 
fond  of  Aurelia ;  and  Mucapor,  to  whom  she  is  betrothed, 
is  his  favourite  among  all  his  generals,  not  excepting 
Probus.  " 

"  Well,  well,  may  it  be  as  you  say !  I  for  my  part  should 
be  sorry  that  any  mishap  should  befall  those  with  whom 
the  most  noble  Piso  is  connected;  especially  seeing  they 
do  not  quarrel,  as  I  was  fain  to  believe,  with  my  calling. 
Yet  never  before,  as  I  think,  have  I  seen  a  Christian  in  my 
shop. " 

"  They  may  have  been  here  without  your  knowing  it.  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  true.  " 

"  Besides,  the  Christians  being,  in  the  greater  propor 
tion,  of  the  middle  or  humbler  classes,  seek  not  their  goods 
at  places  where  emperors  resort.  They  go  elsewhere.  " 

Civilis  bowed  to  the  floor  as  he  replied, — 

"  You  do  me  too  much  honour. " 

"  The  two  cases  of  perfume  which  I  buy, "  I  then  said, 
"  are  to  travel  into  the  far  East.  Please  to  secure  them 
accordingly. " 

"  Are  they  not  then  for  the  Princess  Julia,  as  I  supposed  ?  * 

"  They  are  for  a  friend  in  Syria.  We  wish  her  to  know 
what  is  going  on  here  in  the  capital  of  all  the  world.  " 

"  By  the  gods  !  you  have  devised  well.  It  is  the  talk  all 
over  Eome.  Cleopatra's  tears  have  taken  all  hearts.  Or 
ders  from  the  provinces  will  soon  pour  in.  They  shall  fol 
low  you,  well  secured  as  you  say.  " 

I  enjoy  a  call  upon  this  whole  Roman,  and  yet  half  Jew, 
as  much  as  upon  the  first  citizens  of  the  capital.  The  cup 
of  Aurelian  is  no  fuller  than  the  cup  of  Civilis.  The  per 
fect  bliss  that  emanates  from  his  countenance,  and  breathes 
from  his  form  and  gait,  is  pleasing  to  behold,  upon  what 
ever  founded, —  seeing  it  is  a  state  that  is  reached  by  so 
few.  No  addition  could  be  made  to  the  felicity  of  this 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  147 

fortunate  man.  He  conceives  his  occupation  to  be  more 
honourable  than  the  proconsulship  of  a  province;  and  his 
name,  he  pleases  himself  with  believing,  is  familiar  to 
more  ears  than  any  man's  save  the  emperor's,  and  has 
been  known  in  Eome  for  a  longer  period  than  any  other 
person's  living,  excepting  only  the  head  of  the  senate,  the 
venerable  Tacitus.  This  is  all  legible  in  the  lines  about 
his  mouth  and  eyes. 

Leaving  the  heaven  of  the  happy  man,  I  turned  to  the 
Forum  of  Augustus,  to  look  at  a  statue  of  brass  of  Aurelian, 
just  placed  among  the  great  men  of  Eome,  in  front  of  the 
Temple  of  Mars  the  Avenger.  This  statue  is  the  work  of 
Periander,  who,  with  that  universality  of  power  which 
marks  the  Greek,  has  made  his  genius  as  distinguished 
here  for  sculpture  as  it  was  in  Palmyra  for  military  defence 
and  architecture.  Who  for  perfection  in  this  art  of  arts  is 
to  be  compared  with  the  Greek  ?  or  for  any  work  of  either 
the  head  or  the  hands,  that  implies  the  possession  of  what 
we  mean  by  genius  ?  The  Greeks  have  not  only  originated 
all  that  we  know  of  great  and  beautiful  in  letters,  philoso 
phy,  and  the  arts,  but  what  they  have  originated  they  have 
also  perfected.  Whatever  they  have  touched  they  have  fin 
ished,  at  least  so  far  as  art  and  the  manner  of  working  is 
concerned.  The  depths  of  all  wisdom  and  philosophy  they 
have  not  sounded  indeed,  though  they  have  gone  deeper 
than  any,  only  because  they  are  in  their  own  essence  un 
fathomable.  Time  as  it  flows  on  bears  us  to  new  regions 
to  be  explored,  whose  riches  constantly  add  new  stores  to 
our  wisdom,  and  open  new  views  to  philosophy.  But  in 
all  art  they  have  reached  a  point  beyond  which  none  have 
since  advanced,  and  beyond  which  it  hardly  seems  possible 
to  go.  A  Doric  column,  a  Doric  temple,  a  Corinthian 
capital,  a  Corinthian  temple,  —  these  perfectly  satisfy  and 
fill  the  mind;  and  for  seven  hundred  years  no  change  or 
addition  has  been  made  or  attempted  that  has  not  been  felt 
to  be  an  injury.  And  I  doubt  not  that  seven  thousand 
years  hence,  if  time  could  but  spare  it  so  long,  pilgrims 
would  still  go  in  search  of  the  beautiful  from  the  remotest 


148  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

parts  of  the  world,  from  parts  now  unknown,  to  worship 
before  the  Parthenon,  and,  may  I  not  add,  the  Temple  of 
the  Sun  in  Palmyra ! 

Periander  has  gained  new  honours  by  this  admirable 
piece  of  work.  I  had  hardly  commenced  my  examination 
of  it,  when  a  grating  voice  at  my  elbow,  and  once  heard 
never  to  be  mistaken  for  any  other,  croaked  out  what  was 
meant  as  a  challenge, — 

"  The  greatest  captain  of  this  or  any  age !  " 

It  was  Spurius,  a  man  whom  no  slight  can  chill,  nor 
even  an  insult  cause  to  abate  the  least  of  his  intrusive 
familiarity,  —  a  familiarity  which  he  covets,  too,  only  for 
the  sake  of  disputation  and  satire.  To  me,  however,  he  is 
never  other  than  a  source  of  amusement  He  is  a  variety 
of  the  species  I  love  occasionally  to  study. 

I  told  him  I  was  observing  the  workmanship,  without 
thinking  of  the  man  represented. 

"  If  you  will  allow  me  to  say  it, "  he  rejoined,  "  a  very 
inferior  subject  of  contemplation.  A  statue  as  I  take  it, 
the  thing  for  which  it  is  made,  is  commemoration.  If  one 
wants  to  see  fine  work  in  marble,  there  is  the  cornice  for 
him  just  overhead ;  or  in  brass,  let  him  look  at  the  doors  of 
the  new  temple,  or  the  last  table  or  couch  of  Syphax.  The 
proper  subject  for  man  is  man.  " 

"Well,  Spurius,  on  your  own  ground,  then, —  in  this 
brass  I  do  not  see  brass,  nor  yet  Aurelian.  " 

"  What  then,  in  the  name  of  Hecate  ?  " 

"Nothing  but  intellect, —  the  mind,  the  soul  of  the 
greater  artist,  Periander.  That  drapery  never  fell  so  upon 
Aurelian  ;  nor  was  Aurelian 's  form  or  bearing  ever  like  this. 
It  is  all  ennobled,  and  exalted  above  pure  nature,  by  the 
divine  power  of  genius.  The  true  artist,  under  every  form 
and  every  line  of  nature,  sees  another  form  and  line  of  more 
perfect  grace  and  beauty,  which  he  chooses  instead,  and 
makes  it  visible  and  permanent  in  stone  or  brass.  You 
see  nothing  in  me,  but  merely  Piso  as  he  walks  the  streets. 
Periander  sees  another  within,  bearing  no  more  resemblance 
to  me  —  yet  as  much  —  than  does  this  to  Aurelian.  " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  149 

"  That  I  simply  conceive  to  be  so  much  sophistry, "  re 
joined  the  poet;  "  which  no  man  would  be  guilty  of,  except 
he  had  been  —  for  the  very  purpose,  as  one  must  think,  of 
degrading  his  intellect  —  to  the  Athenian  schools.  Still, 
as  I  said  and  think,  the  statue  is  made  to  commemorate  the 
man  represented,  not  the  artist.  " 

"  It  is  made  for  that.  But  oftentimes  the  very  name  of 
the  man  commemorated  is  lost,  while  that  of  the  artist 
lives  forever.  In  my  judgment  there  is  as  much  of  Peri- 
ander  in  this  statue  as  there  is  of  Aurelian.  " 

"  I  know  not  what  the  fame  of  this  great  Periander  may 
be  ages  hence.  It  has  not  till  now  reached  my  ear.  " 

"  It  is  not  easy  to  reach  the  ears  of  some  who  dwell  in 
the  Via  Cceli.  "  I  could  not  help  saying  that. 

"  My  rooms,  sir,  I  would  inform  you, "  he  rejoined, 
sharply,  "  are  on  the  third  floor. " 

"  Then  I  do  wonder  you  should  not  have  heard  of 
Periander. " 

"  Greater  than  Aurelian !  —  and  I  must  wonder,  too  !  A 
poet  may  be  greater  than  a  general  or  an  emperor,  I  grant ; 
he  is  one  of  the  family  of  the  gods ;  but  how  a  worker  in 
brass  or  marble  can  be,  passes  my  poor  understanding.  It 
is  vain  to  attempt  to  raise  the  mere  artist  to  the  level  of 
the  historian  or  poet.  " 

"  I  think  that,  too.  I  only  said  he  was  greater  than 
Aurelian. " 

"  Than  Aurelian, "  replied  Spurius,  "  who  has  extended 
the  bounds  of  the  empire !  " 

"  But  narrowed  those  of  human  happiness, "  I  answered. 
"  Which  is  of  more  consequence,  empire  or  man  ?  But 
now,  man  was  the  great  object !  I  grant  you  he  is,  and  for 
that  reason  a  man  who,  like  an  artist  of  genius,  adds  to 
the  innocent  sources  of  human  enjoyment,  is  greater  than 
the  soldier  and  conqueror,  whose  business  is  the  annoyance 
and  destruction  of  life.  Aurelian  has  slain  hundreds  of 
thousands.  Periander  never  injured  a  worm.  He  dwells 
in  a  calm  and  peaceful  world  of  his  own,  and  his  works  are 
designed  to  infuse  the  same  spirit  that  fills  himself  into  all 


150  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

who  behold  them.  You  must  confess  the  superior  power 
of  art  and  the  artist  in  this  very  figure.  Who  thinks  of 
conquest,  blood,  and  death,  as  he  looks  upon  these  flowing 
outlines,  this  calm,  majestic  form,  upon  that  still  face  ? 
The  artist  here  is  the  conqueror  of  the  conqueror,  and 
makes  him  subserve  his  own  purposes,  —  purposes  of  a 
higher  nature  than  the  mere  soldier  ever  dreamt  of.  No 
one  can  stand  and  contemplate  this  form  without  being 
made  a  lover  of  beauty,  rather  than  of  blood  and  death  ;  and 
beauty  is  peace. " 

"  It  must  be  impossible, "  replied  the  sour  spirit,  "  for 
one  who  loves  Palmyra  better  than  his  native  Eome,  to  see 
much  merit  in  Aurelian.  It  is  a  common  saying,  '  Piso  is 
a  Palmyrene. '  The  report  is  current,  too,  that  Piso  is  about 
to  turn  author,  and  celebrate  that  great  nation  in  history.  " 

"  I  wish  I  were  worthy  to  do  so, "  I  answered ;  "  I  might 
then  refute  certain  statements  in  another  quarter.  Yet 
events  have  already  refuted  them. " 

"  If  my  book, "  replied  Spurius,  "  be  copied  a  thousand 
times,  the  statements  shall  stand  as  they  are.  They  are 
founded  upon  indisputable  evidence  and  philosophical 
inferences. " 

"  But,  Spurius,  they  are  every  one  contradicted  by  the 
late  events. " 

"  No  matter  for  that ;  if  they  were  ever  true,  they  must 
always  be  true.  Eeasoning  is  as  strong  as  fact.  I  found 
Palmyra  a  vulgar,  upstart  provincial  city,  the  most  dis 
tasteful  of  all  spots  on  earth  to  a  refined  mind ;  such  I  left 
it,  and  such  I  have  shown  it  to  the  world.  " 

"  Yet, "  I  urged,  "  if  the  Palmyrenes  in  the  defence  of 
their  country  showed  themselves  a  brave,  daring,  and  dan 
gerous  foe,  as  they  certainly  were  magnanimous,  —  if  so 
many  facts  and  events  prove  this,  and  all  Eome  admits  it, 
—  it  will  seem  like  little  else  than  malice  for  such  pages 
to  circulate  in  your  book.  Besides,  as  to  a  thousand  other 
things,  I  can  prove  you  wrong. " 

"  Because  I  have  but  one  eye,  am  I  incapable  of  vision  ? 
Am  I  to  be  reproached  with  my  misfortunes  ?  One  eye  is 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  151 

the  same  as  two ;  who  sees  two  images  except  he  squint  ? 
I  can  describe  that  wain,  loaded  down  with  wine-casks, 
drawn  by  four  horses  with  scarlet  trappings,  the  driver 
with  a  sweeping  Juno's  favour  in  his  cap,  as  justly  as  you 
can.  Who  can  see  more  ?  " 

"  I  thought  not,  Spurius,  of  your  misfortune,  though  I 
must  think  two  eyes  better  for  seeing  than  one,  but  only  of 
favourable  opportunities  for  observation.  You  were  in 
Palmyra  from  the  ides  of  January  to  the  nones  of  Feb 
ruary,  and  lived  in  a  tavern.  I  have  been  there  for  more 
than  half  a  year,  and  dwelt  among  the  citizens  themselves. 
I  knew  them  in  public  and  in  private,  and  saw  them  under 
all  circumstances  most  favourable  to  a  just  opinion,  and  I 
can  affirm  that  a  more  discoloured  picture  of  a  people  was 
never  drawn  than  yours.  " 

"  All  the  world, "  said  the  creature,  "  knows  that  Spurius 
is  no  flatterer.  I  have  not  only  published  travels  among 
the  Palmyrenes,  but  I  intend  to  publish  a  poem  also,  - 
yes,  a  satire;  and  if  it  should  be  entitled  'Woman's  Pride 
humbled, '  or  '  The  Downfall  of  false  Greatness, '  or  '  The 
Gourd  withered  in  a  Day,'  or  'Mushrooms  not  Oaks,'  or 
'Ants  not  Elephants,'  what  would  there  be  wonderful  in 
it  ?  —  or  if  Eornans  should  figure  largely  in  it,  eh  ?  " 

"  Nothing  is  less  wonderful,  Spurius,  than  the  obstinacy 
and  tenaciousness  of  error. " 

"  Periander  greater  than  Aurelian !  "  rejoined  he,  moving 
off;  "  that  is  a  good  thing  for  the  town ! " 

As  I  turned,  intending  to  visit  the  shop  of  Demetrius  to 
see  what  progress  he  was  making  in  his  silver  Apollo,  I 
was  accosted  by  the  consul  Marcellinus. 

"  A  fair  morning  to  you,  Piso, "  said  he ;  "  and  I  see  you 
need  the  salutation  and  the  wish,  for  a  black  cloud  has  just 
drifted  from  you,  and  you  must  still  feel  as  if  under  the 
shadow.  Half  the  length  of  the  street,  as  I  slowly  ap 
proached,  have  I  witnessed  your  earnest  discourse  with  one 
whom  I  now  see  to  have  been  Spurius.  But  I  trust  your* 
Christian  principles  are  not  about  to  make  an  agrarian  of 
you.  Whence  this  sudden  intimacy  with  one  like  Spurius  ?" 


152  LETTERS  FROM  HOME. 

"  One  need  not,  I  suppose,  be  set  down  as  a  lover  of  an 
east  wind  because  they  both  sometimes  take  the  same  road, 
and  can  scarcely  separate  if  they  would  ?  But  to  speak  the 
truth,  a  man  is  to  me  a  man,  and  I  never  yet  have  met  one 
of  the  race  from  whom  I  could  not  gain  either  amusement, 
instruction,  or  warning.  Spurius  is  better  than  a  lecture 
from  a  philosopher  upon  the  odiousness  of  prejudice.  To 
any  one  inclined  to  harbour  prejudices  would  I  recommend 
an  hour's  interview  with  Spurius,  sooner  far  than  I  would 
send  him  to  Cleanthes  the  Stoic,  or  Silius  the  Platonist,  or 
I  had  almost  said,  Probus  the  Christian.  " 

"  May  I  ask, "  said  he,  "  Piso,  if  you  have  in  sober  earnest 
joined  yourself  to  the  community  of  the  Christians,  or  are 
you  only  dallying  for  a  while  with  their  doctrines,  just  as 
our  young  men  are  this  year  affected  by  the  opinions  of 
Cleanthes ;  the  next,  followers  of  Silius ;  the  third,  of  the 
nuisance  Crito ;  the  fourth,  adrift  from  all ;  and  the  fifth, 
good  defenders,  if  not  believers,  of  the  popular  supersti 
tions  ?  I  presume  I  may  believe  that  such  is  the  case  with 
you.  I  trust  so,  for  the  times  are  not  favourable  for  the 
Christians,  and  I  would  like  to  know  that  you  were  not 
of  them." 

"  I  am,  however,  of  them  heart  and  soul.  I  have  been 
a  Christian  ever  since  I  first  thoroughly  comprehended 
what  it  meant. " 

"  But  how  can  it  be  possible  that,  standing  as  you  do  at 
the  head,  as  it  were,  of  the  nobility  and  wealth  of  Eome, 
you  can  confound  yourself  with  this  obscure  and  vulgar 
tribe  ?  I  know  that  some  few  of  reputation  are  with  them 
beside  yourself;  but  how  few!  Come,  come,  disabuse 
yourself  of  this  error,  and  return  to  the  old,  safe,  and 
reputable  side. " 

"  If  mere  fancy,  Marcellinus,  had  carried  me  over  to  the 
Christians,  fancy  or  whim  might  bring  me  away  from  them. 
But  if  it  be,  on  the  other  hand,  a  question  of  truth,  then  it 
is  clear,  fashion  and  respectability,  and  even  what  is 
safest  or  most  expedient,  are  arguments  not  to  be  so  much 
as  lisped. " 


FROM  PISO  TO    FAUSTA.  153 

"  No  more,  no  more !  I  see  how  it  is.  You  are  fairly 
gone  from  us.  Nevertheless,  though  it  may  be  thought 
needful  to  check  the  growth  of  this  sect,  I  shall  hope  that 
your  bark  may  sail  safely  along.  But  this  reported  disap 
pearance  of  Aurelia  shows  that  danger  is  not  far  off. " 

"  Do  you.  then,  credit  the  rumour  ?  " 

"  I  can  do  no  otherwise.  It  is  in  every  part  of  the  town. 
I  shall  learn  at  the  Capitol.  I  go  to  meet  the  senate. " 

"  One  moment :  is  my  judgment  of  the  senate  a  right  one 
in  this,  that  it  would  not  second  Aurelian  in  an  attack 
upon  the  privileges,  property,  or  lives  of  the  Christians  ?  " 

"  I  think  it  is.  Although  I  know  there  are  but  few 
Christians  in  the  body, — how  many,  you  know  surely 
better  than  I,  —  yet  I  am  persuaded  it  would  be  adverse  to 
acts  of  intolerance  and  persecution.  Will  you  not  accom 
pany  me  to  the  sitting  ?  " 

"  Not  so  early.      I  am  first  bound  elsewhere.  " 

You  know,  Fausta,  that  I  avoid  the  senate.  Being  no 
longer  a  senate,  a  Eoman  senate,  but  a  mere  gathering  of 
the  flatterers  of  the  reigning  emperor,  whoever  he  may  be, 
neither  pleasure  nor  honour  can  come  of  their  company. 
There  is  one  aspect,  however,  at  the  present  moment,  in 
which  this  body  is  to  be  contemplated  with  interest.  It  is 
not,  in  matters  of  religion,  a  superstitious  body.  Here  it 
stands,  between  Aurelian  with  the  populace  on  his  side, 
and  the  Christians,  or  whatever  religious  body  or  sect  there 
should  be  any  design  to  oppress  or  exterminate.  It  consists 
of  the  best,  and  noblest,  and  richest  of  Rome ;  of  those  who 
have  either  imbibed  their  opinions  in  philosophy  and  re 
ligion  from  the  ancient  philosophers  or  their  living  repre 
sentatives,  or  are  indifferent  and  neglectful  of  the  whole 
subject,  which  is  the  more  common  case.  In  either  case 
they  are  as  a  body  tolerant  of  the  various  forms  which  re 
ligion  or  superstition  may  assume.  The  only  points  of 
interest  or  inquiry  with  them  would  be,  whether  any  speci 
fied  faith  or  ceremonies  tended  to  the  injury  of  the  state; 
whether  they  affected  to  its  damage  the  existing  order  of 
civil  affairs.  These  questions  being  answered  favourably, 


154  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

on  the  part  of  the  greater  number  there  would  be  no  dispo 
sition  to  interfere.  Of  Christianity,  the  common  judgment 
in  that  body,  and  among  those  in  the  capital  who  are  of  the 
same  general  rank,  is  for  the  most  part  favourable.  It  is 
commended  for  its  modesty,  for  the  quiet  and  unostenta 
tious  manner  in  which  its  religious  affairs  are  managed, 
and  for  the  humble  diligence  with  which  it  concerns  itself 
with  the  common  people  and  the  poor,  teaching  them  its 
truths,  whatever  they  may  be,  and  especially  ministering 
so  largely  to  their  outward  necessities.  L  am  persuaded 
any  decision  of  the  senate  concerning  the  Christians  would 
be  indulgent  and  paternal,  and  that  it  would  in  opinion 
and  feeling  be  opposed  to  any  violence  whatever  on  the  part 
of  Aurelian.  But  then,  alas !  it  is  little  that  they  can  do, 
with  even  the  best  purposes.  The  emperor  is  absolute,  — 
the  only  power,  in  truth,  in  the  state.  The  senate  exists 
but  in  name  and  form.  It  has  even  less  independent  power 
than  that  of  Palmyra  had  under  Zenobia.  Yours,  indeed, 
was  dependent  through  affection  and  trust,  reposing  in  a 
higher  wisdom  than  its  own ;  this  through  fear  and  the 
spirit  of  flattery.  So  many  members,  too,  were  added  after 
the  merciless  thinning  of  its  seats  in  the  affair  of  the  mint 
that  now  scarce  a  voice  would  be  raised  in  open  opposition 
to  any  course  the  emperor  might  adopt.  The  new  members 
being  moreover  of  newer  families,  nearer  the  people,  are 
less  inclined  than  the  others  to  resist  any  of  his  measures. 
Still,  it  is  most  evident  that  there  is  an  under-current  of 
ill-will,  opposition,  jealousy,  distrust  running  through  the 
body,  which,  if  the  opportunity  should  present  itself,  and 
there  were  courage  enough  for  the  work,  may  show  itself 
and  make  itself  felt  and  respected.  The  senate,  in  a  word, 
though  slavish  and  subservient,  is  not  friendly. 

But  I  am  detaining  you  from  the  company  of  Demetrius, 
of  which  you  were  always  fond.  I  soon  reached  his  rich 
establishment,  and  being  assured  that  he  of  Palmyra  was 
within,  I  entered.  I  was  carried  through  many  apart 
ments,  filled  with  those  who  were  engaged  in  some  one  of 
the  branches  of  this  beautiful  art,  to  that  which  was  sacred 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  155 

to  the  labours  of  the  two  brothers,  who  are  employed  solely 
in  the  invention  of  the  designs  of  their  several  works,  in 
drawing  the  plans,  in  preparing  the  models,  and  then  in 
overseeing  the  younger  artists  at  their  tasks,  themselves 
performing  all  the  higher  and  more  difficult  parts  and  pro 
cesses  of  their  art.  Demetrius  was  working  alone  at  his 
statue,  the  room  in  which  he  was  being  filled  either  with 
antiquities  in  brass,  ivory,  silver,  or  gold,  or  with  finished 
specimens  of  their  own  skill,  all  disposed  with  the  utmost 
taste,  and  with  all  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the 
architecture  of  the  room,  from  a  soft  and  mellowed  light, 
resembling  moonlight,  which  came  through  alabaster  win 
dows,  and  from  the  rich  cloths,  silks,  and  other  stuffs,  and 
the  highly  ornamented  cases  in  which  various  articles  of 
greatest  perfection  and  value  were  kept  and  exhibited. 
Here  stood  the  enthusiast,  applying  himself  so  intently  to 
his  task  that  he  neither  heard  the  door  of  the  apartment 
as  it  opened,  nor  the  voice  of  the  slave  who  announced  my 
name.  But  in  a  moment,  as  he  suddenly  retreated  to  a 
dark  recess  to  observe  from  that  point  the  effect  of  his 
touches  as  he  proceeded,  he  saw  me,  and  cried  out,  — 

"  Most  glad  to  greet  you  here,  Piso ;  your  judgment  is 
at  this  very  point  what  I  shall  be  thankful  for.  Here,  if 
it  please  you,  move  to  the  very  spot  in  which  I  now  am, 
and  tell  me  especially  this,  whether  the  finger  of  the  right 
hand  should  not  be  turned  a  line  farther  towards  the  left 
of  the  figure.  The  metal  is  obstinate,  but  still  it  can  be 
bent  if  necessary.  Now  judge,  and  speak  your  judgment 
frankly,  for  my  sake.  " 

I  sank  back  into  the  recess  as  desired,  and  considered  at 
tentively  the  whole  form,  rough  now  and  from  the  moulds, 
and  receiving  the  first  finishing  touches  from  the  rasp  and 
the  chisel.  I  studied  it  long,  and  at  my  leisure,  Deme 
trius  employing  himself  busily  about  some  other  matters. 
It  is  a  beautiful  and  noble  figure,  worthy  any  artist's  repu 
tation  of  any  age,  and  of  a  place  in  the  magnificent  temple 
for  which  it  is  designed.  So  I  assured  Demetrius,  giving 
him  at  length  my  opinion  upon  every  part.  I  ended  with 


156  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

telling  him  I  did  not  believe  that  any  effect  would  be 
gained  by  altering  the  present  direction  of  the  finger.  It 
had  come  perfect  from  the  moulds. 

"  Is  that  your  honest  judgment,  Piso  ?  Christians,  they 
say,  ever  speak  the  exact  truth.  Fifty  times  have  I  gone 
where  you  now  are,  to  determine  the  point.  My  brother 
says  it  is  right ;  but  I  cannot  tell.  I  have  attempted  the 
work  in  too  much  haste ;  but  Aurelian  thinks,  I  believe, 
that  a  silver  man  may  be  made  as  easily  as  a  flesh  one  may 
be  unmade.  Eome  is  no  Palmyra,  Piso.  What  a  life  there 
for  an  artist!  —  calm  as  a  summer  sea.  Here!  by  all  the 
gods  and  goddesses !  if  one  hears  of  anything  but  of  blood 
and  death !  Heads,  all  on  where  they  should  be  to-day,  to 
morrow  are  off.  To-day,  captives  cut  up  on  the  altars  of 
some  accursed  god,  and  to-morrow  thrown  to  some  savage 
beast,  no  better  and  no  worse,  for  the  entertainment  of 
savages  worse  than  either  or  all.  The  very  boys  in  the 
streets  talk  of  little  else  than  of  murderous  sports  of  glad 
iators  or  wild  animals.  I  swear  to  you  a  man  can  scarce 
collect  or  keep  his  thoughts  here.  What 's  this  about  the 
Christians  too  ?  I  marvel,  Piso,  to  see  you  here  with  your 
head  on !  They  say  you  are  to  be  all  cut  up  root  and 
branch.  Take  my  advice,  and  fly  with  me  back  to  Pal 
myra!  Not  another  half-year  would  I  pass  among  these 
barbarians  for  all  the  patronage  of  the  emperor,  his  min 
ions,  and  the  senate  at  their  back.  What  say  you  ?  " 

"  No,  Demetrius,  I  cannot  go ;  but  I  should  not  blame 
you  for  going.  Eome  is  no  place,  I  agree  with  you,  for  the 
life  contemplative,  or  for  the  pure  and  innocent  labours  of 
art.  It  is  the  spot  for  intense  action;  but —  " 

"  Suffering,  you  mean.  " 

"  That  too,  most  assuredly,  but  of  action  also.  It  is  the 
great  heart  of  the  world.  " 

"  Black  as  Erebus  and  night.  " 

"  Yes,  but  still  a  great  one,  and  which,  if  it  can  be  once 
made  to  beat  true,  will  send  its  blood,  then  a  pure  and 
life-giving  current,  to  the  remotest  extremities  of  the 
world,  which  is  its  body.  I  hope  for  the  time  to  come 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  157 

when  this  will  be  true.  There  is  more  goodness  in  Eome, 
Demetrius,  than  you  have  heard  of,  or  know  of.  There  is 
a  people  here  worth  saving ;  I,  with  the  other  Christians, 
am  set  to  this  work.  We  must  not  abandon  it.  " 

"  'T  will  be  small  comfort  though,  should  you  all  perish 
doing  it. " 

"  Our  perishing  might  be  but  the  means  of  new  and 
greater  multitudes  springing  up  to  finish  what  we  had 
begun,  but  left  incomplete.  There  is  great  life  in  death. 
Blood  spilled  upon  the  ground  is  a  kind  of  seed  that 
comes  up  men.  Truth  is  not  extinguished  by  putting 
out  life.  It  then  seems  to  shine  the  more  brightly,  as  if 
the  more  to  cheer  and  comfort  those  who  are  suffering  and 
dying  for  it.  " 

"  That  may  be  or  may  not, "  said  the  artist,  "  here  and 
there;  but  in  my  judgment,  if  this  manslayer,  this  world- 
butcher,  once  fastens  his  clutches  upon  your  tribe,  he  will 
leave  none  to  write  your  story.  How  many  were  left  in 
Palmyra  ?  Just,  Piso,  resume  your  point  of  observation, 
and  judge  whether  this  fold  of  the  drapery  were  better  as 
it  is,  or  joined  to  the  one  under  it,  — an  alteration  easily 
made. " 

I  gave  him  my  opinion,  and  he  went  on  filing  and 
talking. 

"  And  now,  Piso,  if  I  must  tell  you,  I  have  conceived  a 
liking  for  you  Christians,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  partly 
I  would  have  you  set  about  to  escape  the  evil  that  is 
threatened,  at  least.  Here  is  my  brother,  whose  equal  the 
world  does  not  hold,  become  a  Christian.  Then  do  you 
know,  here  is  a  family,  just  in  the  rear  of  our  shop,  of  one 
Macer,  a  Christian  and  a  preacher,  that  has  won  upon  us 
strangely.  I  see  much  of  them.  Some  of  his  boys  are  in 
a  room  below,  helping  on  by  their  labour  the  support  of 
their  mother  and  those  who  are  younger ;  for  I  trow  Macer 
himself  does  little  for  them,  whatever  he  may  be  doing  for 
the  world  at  large,  or  its  great  heart,  as  you  call  it.  But 
what  is  more  still,"  cried  he,  with  emphasis,  and  a  jump 
at  the  same  moment,  throwing  down  his  tools,  "  do  you 


158  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

know  the  Christians  have  some  sense  of  what  is  good  in 
our  way  ?  They  aspire  to  the  elegant,  as  well  as  others 
who  are  in  better  esteem. " 

And  as  he  finished,  he  threw  open  the  doors  of  a  small 
cabinet,  and  displayed  a  row  of  dishes,  cups,  and  pitchers, 
of  elegant  form  and  workmanship. 

"  These, "  he  went  on,  "  are  for  the  church  of  Felix,  the 
bishop  of  the  Christians.  What  they  do  with  them  I  know 
not;  but  as  I  was  told  by  the  bishop,  they  have  a  table  or 
altar  of  marble,  on  which  at  certain  times  they  are  ar 
ranged,  for  some  religious  rite  or  other.  They  are  not  of 
gold,  as  they  seern,  but  of  silver  gilded.  My  brother  fur 
nished  the  designs,  and  put  them  into  the  hands  of  Flaccus, 
who  wrought  them.  Neither  I  nor  my  brother  could  labour 
at  them,  as  you  may  believe ;  but  it  shows  a  good  ambition 
in  the  Christians  to  try  for  the  first  skill  in  Rome  or  the 
world,  does  it  not  ?  They  are  a  promising  people. " 

Saying  which,  he  closed  the  doors  and  flew  to  his  work 
again. 

At  the  same  moment  the  door  of  the  apartment  opened, 
and  the  brother  Demetrius  entered,  accompanied  by  Probus. 
When  our  greetings  were  over,  Probus  said,  continuing,  as 
it  seemed,  a  conversation  just  broken  off,  — 

"  I  did  all  I  could  to  prevent  it,  but  the  voice  of  numbers 
was  against  me,  and  of  authority  too,  and  both  together 
they  prevailed.  You,  I  believe,  stood  neuter,  or  indeed  I 
may  suppose  knew  nothing  about  the  difference.  " 

"  As  you  suppose, "  replied  the  elder  Demetrius,  "  I  knew 
nothing  of  it,  but  designed  the  work,  and  have  completed 
it.  Here  it  is.  "  And  going  to  the  same  cabinet,  he  again 
opened  the  doors  and  displayed  the  contents.  Probus  sur 
veyed  them  with  a  melancholy  air,  saying,  as  he  did  so : 

"  I  could  bear  that  the  vessels  used  for  the  purpose  to 
which  these  are  destined  should  be  made  of  gold,  or  even 
of  diamond  itself,  could  mines  be  found  to  furnish  it,  and 
skill  to  hollow  it  out.  For  the  wine  which  these  shall 
hold  is  that  which,  in  the  way  of  symbol,  shadows  forth 
the  blood  of  Christ,  which,  by  being  shed  on  the  cross, 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  159 

purchased  for  us  this  truth,  this  faith,  and  hope,  from 
which  we  derive  so  much  happiness,  and  which  are  to  be 
an  inheritance  of  happiness,  infinitely  better  and  more 
complete  than  that  which  we  enjoy  in  these  days  of  fear, 
to  the  world  through  all  ages.  What  should  be  set  out 
with  every  form  of  human  honour  and  decoration,  if  not 
this  ?  " 

"  I  think  so, "  replied  Demetrius  ;  "  to  that  which  we 
honour  and  reverence  in  our  hearts  we  must  add  the  out 
ward  sign  and  testimony,  especially  if  we  would  affect  the 
minds  of  others  in  the  same  way  that  ours  are.  Paganism 
understands  this ;  and  it  is  the  pomp  and  magnificence  of 
her  ceremony,  the  richness  of  the  temple  service,  the 
grandeur  of  her  architecture,  and  the  imposing  array  of 
her  priests  in  their  robes,  ministering  at  the  altars,  or 
passing  through  the  streets  in  gorgeous  procession,  with 
banners,  victims,  garlands,  and  music,  by  which  the  popu 
lace  are  gained  and  kept.  'That  must  be  excellent  and 
highly  to  be  esteemed, '  they  say,  '  on  which  the  great,  the 
learned,  and  the  rich,  above  all,  the  state  itself,  are  so 
prompt  to  lavish  so  much  splendour  and  wealth.'" 

"  But  here  is  a  great  danger, "  Probus  replied.  "  This, 
carried  too  far,  may  convert  religion  into  show  and  osten 
tation.  Form  and  ceremony,  and  all  that  is  merely  outward 
and  material,  may  take  the  place  of  the  moral  and  spiritual. 
Eeligion  may  come  to  be  a  thing  apart  by  itself,  a  great  act, 
a  tremendous  and  awful  rite,  a  magnificent  and  imposing 
ceremony,  instead  of  what  it  is  in  itself,  simply  a  principle 
of  right  action  toward  man  and  toward  God.  This  is  at 
present  just  the  character  and  position  of  the  Eoman  re 
ligion.  It  is  a  thing  that  is  to  be  seen  at  the  temples, 
but  nowhere  else  ;  it  is  a  worship  through  sacrifices  and 
prayers,  and  that  is  all.  The  worshipper  at  the  temple  may 
be  a  tyrant  at  home,  a  profligate  in  the  city,  a  bad  man 
everywhere,  and  yet  none  the  less  a  true  worshipper.  May 
God  save  the  religion  of  Christ  from  such  corruption  !  Yet 
is  the  beginning  to  be  discerned.  A  decline  has  already 
begun.  Eank  and  power  are  already  sought  with  an  insane 


160  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

ambition ;  and  to  perpetuate  and  render  more  imposing  the 
power,  the  same  means  are  resorted  to  by  Christian  minis 
ters  that  have  been  by  Koman  emperors.  The  people  are 
dazzled  by  state  and  show,  and  so  blinded  to  the  encroach 
ments  made  upon  their  liberty.  Some,  too,  with  a  less 
criminal  motive,  but  with  an  aim  quite  as  mistaken,  seek 
to  transfer  to  Christianity  the  same  outward  splendour,  and 
the  same  gilded  trappings,  which  they  see  so  to  subdue  the 
imagination' — and  by  that  lead  them  captive  —  of  the 
common  people.  Hence,  Piso  and  Demetrius,  the  golden 
chair  of  Felix  and  his  robes  of  audience  on  which  there  is 
more  gold,  as  I  believe,  than  would  gild  all  these  cups  and 
pitchers ;  hence,  too,  the  finery  of  the  table,  the  picture 
behind  it,  and,  in  some  churches,  the  statues  of  Christ,  and 
of  Paul  and  Peter.  These  golden  vessels  for  the  supper  of 
Christ's  love,  I  can  forgive  —  I  can  welcome  them;  but 
in  the  rest  that  has  come  and  is  coming,  I  see  signs  of 
danger. " 

"  But,  most  excellent  Probus, "  said  the  younger  Deme 
trius,  "  I  like  not  to  hear  the  arts  assailed  and  represented 
dangerous,  and  I  like  your  way  the  less  for  what  you  have 
now  said.  I  have  just  been  telling  Piso  that  you  are  a 
people  to  be  respected,  for  you  were  beginning  to  honour 
the  arts.  But  here  now  have  you  just  denounced  them. 
What  harm  could  it  do  any  good  man  among  you  to  come 
and  look  at  this  figure  of  Apollo,  or  a  statue  of  your  Paul 
or  Peter,  as  you  name  them,  supposing  they  were  just  men 
and  benefactors  of  their  race  ?  " 

"  There  ought  to  be  none, "  Probus  replied.  "  It  ought 
to  be  a  source  of  innocent  pleasure,  if  not  of  wholesome  in 
struction,  to  gaze  upon  the  imitated  form  of  a  good  man,  — 
of  a  reformer,  a  benefactor,  a  prophet.  But  man  is  so 
prone  to  religion  that  you  can  scarce  place  before  him  an 
object  of  reverence  but  he  will  straightway  worship  it. 
What  were  your  gods  but  once  men,  first  revered,  then  wor 
shipped,  and  now  their  stone  images  deemed  to  be  the  very 
gods  themselves  ?  Thus  the  original  and  natural  idea  of  a 
Supreme  Deity  has  been  almost  lost  out  of  the  world.  I 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  161 

can  conceive  that  in  the  lapse  of  ages  men  shall  be  so  re 
deemed  from  the  gross  conceptions  that  now  enthral  them 
concerning  both  God  and  his  worship,  and  so  nourished  up 
to  a  divine  strength  by  the  power  of  truth,  that  they  shall 
be  in  no  danger  from  such  sources  of  error.  The  religion 
of  Christ  will  itself,  if  aught  can  do  it,  bring  about  such  a 
period. " 

"  That,  then,  will  be  the  time  for  artists  to  live,  next  after 
now, "  said  Demetrius  of  Palmyra.  "  In  the  mean  time, 
Probus,  if  Hellenism  should  decline  and  die,  and  your 
strict  faith  takes  its  place,  art  will  decline  and  perish. 
We  live  chiefly  by  the  gods  and  their  worship.  " 

"  If  our  religion, "  replied  Probus,  "  should  suffer  injury 
from  its  own  professors  in  the  way  it  has,  for  a  century  or 
two  more,  it  will  give  occupation  enough  to  artists.  Its 
corruptions  will  do  the  same  for  you  that  the  reign  of 
absolute  and  perfect  truth  would.  " 

"  The  gods  then  grant  that  the  corruptions  you  speak  of 
may  come  in  season,  before  I  die !  I  am  tired  of  Jupiters, 
Mercuries,  and  Apollos.  I  have  a  great  fancy  to  make  a 
statue  of  Christ.  Brother,  what  think  you,  —  should  I  reach 
it  ?  Most  excellent  Probus,  should  I  make  you  such  an 
one  for  your  private  apartments,  I  do  not  believe  you  would 
worship  it,  and  doubtless  it  would  afford  you  pleasure.  If 
you  will  leave  a  commission  for  such  a  work,  it  shall  be 
set  about  as  soon  as  this  god  of  the  emperor  is  safe  on  his 
pedestal.  What  think  you  ?  " 

"  I  should  judge  you  took  me,  Demetrius,  for  the  priest 
of  a  temple,  or  a  noble  of  the  land.  The  price  of  such  a 
piece  of  sculpture  would  swallow  up  more  than  all  I  am 
worth.  Bssides,  though  I  might  not  worship  myself,  — 
though  I  say  not  but  I  might,  —  I  should  give  an  ill  ex 
ample  to  others,  who,  if  they  furnished  themselves  or  their 
churches  with  similar  forms,  might  not  have  power  over 
themselves,  but  relapse  into  the  idolatry  from  which  they 
are  but  just  escaped.  " 

"  All  religions,  as  to  their  doctrine  and  precept,  are  alike 
to  me,"  replied  Demetrius;  "  only,  as  a  general  principle, 

11 


162  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

I  should  ever  prefer  that  which  had  the  most  gods.  Eome 
shows  excellent  judgment  in  adopting  all  the  gods  of  the 
earth,  so  that  if  the  worship  of  one  god  will  not  bring 
prosperity  to  the  nation,  there  are  others  in  plenty  to  try 
their  fortune  with  again.  Never  doubt,  brother,  that  it 
is  because  you  Christians  have  no  gods,  that  the  populace 
and  others  are  so  hostile  to  you.  Only  set  up  a  few  images 
of  Christ,  and  some  of  the  other  founders  of  the  religion, 
and  your  peace  will  be  made.  Otherwise,  I  fear  this 
man-killer  will,  like  some  vulture,  pounce  upon  you  and 
tear  you  piecemeal.  What,  brother,  have  you  learned  of 
Aurelia  ?  " 

"  Nothing  with  certainty.  I  could  find  only  a  confirma 
tion  from  every  mouth,  but  based  on  no  certain  knowledge, 
of  the  rumour  that  reached  us  early  in  the  morning.  But 
what  is  so  universally  reported  generally  turns  out  true. 
I  should,  however,  if  I  believed  the  fact  of  her  imprison 
ment,  doubt  the  cause.  " 

I  said  that  I  could  conceive  of  no  other  cause,  and  feared 
that,  if  the  fact  were  so,  the  religion  of  Aurelia  was  the 
reason  of  her  being  so  dealt  with.  It  was  like  Aurelian, 
if  he  had  resolved  upon  oppressing  the  Christians  to  any 
extent  whatever,  that  he  should  begin  with  those  who  were 
nearest  to  him,  —  first  with  his  own  blood,  and  then  with 
those  of  his  household. 

With  this  and  such-like  conversation,  I  passed  a  pleasant 
hour  at  the  rooms  of  Demetrius. 

My  wish  was,  as  I  turned  from  the  apartments  of  Deme 
trius,  to  seek  the  emperor  or  Livia,  and  learn  from  them 
the  exact  truth  concerning  the  reports  current  through  the 
city.  But  giving  way  to  that  weakness  which  defers  to 
the  latest  possible  moment  the  confirmation  of  painful 
news  and  the  resolution  of  doubts  which  one  would  rather 
should  remain  as  doubts  than  be  determined  in  the  wrong 
way,  in  melancholy  mood  I  turned  and  retraced  my  steps. 
My  melancholy  was  changed  to  serious  apprehension  by  all 
that  I  observed  and  heard  on  my  way  to  the  Coelian.  As 
the  crowd  in  this  great  avenue,  the  Suburra,  pressed  by  me, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  163 

it  was  easy  to  gather  that  the  Christians  had  become  the 
universal  topic  of  conversation  and  dispute.  The  name  of 
the  unhappy  Aurelia  frequently  caught  my  ear.  Threat-' 
ening  and  ferocious  language  dropped  from  many,  who 
seemed  glad  that  at  length  an  emperor  had  arisen  who 
would  prove  faithful  to  the  institutions  of  the  country.  I 
joined  a  little  group  of  gazers  before  the  window  of  the 
rooms  of  Periander,  at  which  something  rare  and  beautiful 
is  always  to  be  seen,  and  who  I  found  were  looking  intently 
at  a  picture,  apparently  just  from  the  hands  of  the  artist, 
which  represented  Rome  under  the  form  of  a  beautiful 
woman,  —  Livia  had  served  as  the  model,  —  with  a  diadem 
upon  her  head,  and  the  badges  of  kingly  authority  in  her 
hands,  and  at  her  side  a  priest  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter, 
"  greatest  and  best, "  in  whose  face  and  form  might  plainly 
be  traced  the  cruel  features  of  Fronto.  The  world  was 
around  them.  On  the  lowest  earth,  with  dark  shadows  set 
tling  over  them,  lay  scattered  and  broken,  in  dishonour 
and  dust,  the  emblems  of  all  the  religions  of  the  world, 
their  temples  fallen  and  in  ruins.  Among  them,  in  the 
front  ground  of  the  picture  was  the  prostrate  cross,  shat 
tered  as  if  dashed  from  the  church,  whose  dilapidated  walls 
and  wide-spread  fragments  bore  testimony  not  so  much  to 
the  wasting  power  of  time  as  to  the  rude  hand  of  popular 
violence ;  while,  rearing  themselves  up  into  a  higher  at 
mosphere,  the  temples  of  the  gods  of  Eome  stood  beautiful 
and  perfect,  bathed  in  the  glowing  light  of  a  morning  sun. 
The  allegory  was  plain  and  obvious  enough.  There  was 
little  attractive  save  the  wonderful  art  with  which  it  was 
done.  This  riveted  the  eye;  and  that  being  gained,  the 
bitter  and  triumphant  bigotry  of  the  ideas  set  forth  had 
time  to  make  its  way  into  the  heart  of  the  beholder,  and 
help  to  change  its  warm  blood  to  gall.  Who  but  must  be 
won  by  the  form  and  countenance  of  the  beautiful  Livia, 
and  confounding  Eome  with  her,  be  inspired  with  a  new 
devotion  to  his  country,  and  its  religion,  and  its  lovely 
queen  ?  The  work  was  inflaming  and  insidious,  as  it  was 
beautiful. 


164  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

This  was  seen  in  what  it  drew  from  those  among  whom 
I  stood. 

"  By  Jupiter!"  said  one,  "  that  is  well  done.  They  are 
all  down,  who  can  deny  it  ?  Those  are  ruins  not  to  be 
built  up  again.  Who  knows  who  the  artist  is  ?  He  must 
be  a  Eoman  to  the  last  drop  of  his  blood  and  the  least  hair 
of  his  beard.  " 

"  His  name  is  Sporus, "  replied  his  companion,  "  as  I 
hear,  a  kinsman  of  Fronto,  the  priest  of  Apollo. " 

"  Ah,  that's  the  reason  the  priest  figures  here, "  cried  the 
first,  "  and  the  empress  too ;  for  they  say  nobody  is  more  at 
the  gardens  than  Fronto.  Well,  he's  just  the  man  for  his 
place.  If  any  man  can  bring  up  the  temples  again,  it's 
he.  Eeligion  is  no  sham  at  the  Temple  of  the  San.  The 
priests  are  all  what  they  pretend  to  be.  Let  others  do  so, 
and  we  shall  have  as  much  reason  to  thank  the  emperor 
for  what  he  has  done  for  the  gods  —  and  so  for  us  all  — 
as  for  what  he  has  done  for  the  army,  the  empire,  and  the 
city. " 

"  You  say  well.  He  is  for  once  a  man  who,  if  he  will, 
may  make  Eome  what  she  was  before  the  empire,  —  a  people 
that  honoured  the  gods.  And  this  picture  seems  as  if  it 
spoke  out  his  very  plans,  and  I  should  not  wonder  if  it 
were  so. " 

"  Never  doubt  it.  See,  here  lies  a  temple  of  Isis  flat 
enough ;  next  to  it  one  of  the  accursed  tribe  of  Jews ;  and 
what  ruder  pile  is  that  ?  " 

"  That  must  be  a  temple  of  the  British  worship,  as  I 
think.  But  the  best  of  all  is  this  Christian  church ;  see 
how  the  wretches  fly  while  the  work  goes  on !  In  my 
notion,  this  paints  what  we  may  soon  see. " 

"  I  believe  it.  The  gods  grant  it  so !  Old  men,  in  my 
judgment,  will  live  to  see  it  all  acted  out.  Do  you  hear 
what  is  said, — that  Aurelian  has  put  to  death  his  own 
niece,  the  princess  Aurelia  ?  n 

"  That's  likely  enough, "  said  another,  "  no  one  can 
doubt  it.  'T  is  easy  news  to  believe  in  Eome.  But  the 
question  is,  what  for  ?  " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  165 

"  No  doubt  for  her  impiety,  and  her  aims  to  convert 
Mucapor  to  her  own  ways. " 

"Well,  there  is  no  telling,  and  it's  no  great  matter; 
time  will  show.  Meanwhile,  Aurelian  forever!  He  's 
the  man  for  me !  " 

"  Truly  is  he, "  said  one  at  his  side  who  had  not  spoken 
before ;  "  for  thy  life  is  spent  at  the  amphitheatres  and  he 
is  a  good  caterer  for  thee,  sending  in  ample  supplies  of  lions 
and  men. " 

"  Whew !  who  is  here  ?  Take  care !  Your  tongue,  old 
man,  has  short  space  to  wag  in. " 

"  I  am  no  Christian,  knave,  but  I  trust  I  am  a  man ;  and 
that  is  more  than  any  can  say  of  you,  that  know  you.  Out 
upon  you  for  a  savage !  " 

The  little  crowd  burst  into  loud  laughter  at  this,  and 
with  various  abusive  epithets  moved  away.  The  old  man 
addressed  himself  to  me,  who  alone  remained  as  they 
withdrew. 

"  Aurelian,  I  believe,  would  do  well  enough  were  he  let 
alone.  He  is  inclined  to  cruelty,  I  know ;  but  nobody  can 
deny  that,  cruel  pr  not,  he  has  wrought  most  beneficial 
changes  both  in  the  army  and  in  the  city.  He  has  been  in 
some  sort,  up  to  within  the  last  half-year,  a  censor  greater 
than  Valerian, —  a  reformer  greater  and  better  than  even  he. 
Had  he  not  been  crazed  by  his  successes  in  the  East,  and 
were  he  not  now  led,  and  driven,  and  maddened  by  the 
whole  priesthood  of  Eome,  with  the  hell-born  Fronto  at 
their  head,  we  might  look  for  a  new  Rome.  But  as  it  is, 
I  fear  these  young  savages  who  are  just  gone  will  see  all 
fulfilled  they  are  praying  for.  A  fair  day  to  you.  " 

And  he,  too,  turned  away.  Others  were  come  into  the 
same  spot,  and  for  a  long  time  did  I  listen  to  similar  lan 
guage.  Many  came,  looked,  said  nothing,  and  took  their 
way,  with  paler  face,  and  head  depressed,  silent  under  the 
imprecations  heaped  upon  the  atheists,  but  manifestly 
either  of  their  side  in  sympathy,  or  else  of  the  very  atheists 
themselves.  I  now  sought  my  home,  tired  of  the  streets, 
of  all  I  had  seen  and  heard.  Many  of  my  acquaintance 


166  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

and  friends  passed  me  on  the  way,  in  whose  altered  manner 
I  could  behold  the  same  signs  which  in  ruder  form  I  had 
just  seen  at  the  window  of  Periander.  Not,  Fausta,  that 
all  my  friends  of  the  Roman  faith  are  summer  ones,  but 
that  perhaps  most  are.  Many  among  them,  though  attached 
firmly  as  my  mother  to  the  existing  institutions,  are  yet 
like  her  possessed  of  the  common  sentiments  of  humanity, 
and  would  venture  much  or  all  to  divert  the  merest  shadow 
of  harm  from  my  head.  Among  these  I  still  pass  some  of 
my  pleasantest  and  most  instructive  hours ;  for  with  them 
the  various  questions  involved  in  the  whole  subject  of  re 
ligion  are  discussed  with  the  most  perfect  freedom  and  mu 
tual  confidence.  Varus  the  prefect,  whom  I  met  among 
others,  greeted  me  with  unchanged  courtesy.  His  sweetest 
smile  was  on  his  countenance  as  he  swept  by  me,  wish 
ing  me  a  happy  day.  How  much  more  tolerable  is  the 
rude  aversion  or  loud  reproaches  of  those  I  have  told  you 
of,  than  this  honeyed  suavity,  that  means  nothing,  and 
would  be  still  the  same  though  I  were  on  the  way  to  the 
block. 

As  I  entered  my  library,  Solon  accosted  me  to  say  that 
there  had  been  one  lately  there  most  urgent  to  see  me. 
From  his  account,  I  could  suppose  it  to  be  none  other  than 
the  Jew  Isaac,  who,  Milo  has  informed  me,  is  now  re 
turned  to  Eome,  which  he  resorts  to  as  his  most  permanent 
home.  Solon  said  that,  though  assured  I  was  not  at  home, 
he  would  not  be  kept  back,  but  pressed  on  into  the  house, 
saying  that  "  these  Eoman  nobles  often  sat  quietly  in  their 
grand  halls,  while  they  were  denied  to  their  poor  clients. 
Piso  was  an  old  acquaintance  of  his  when  in  Palmyra  and 
he  had  somewhat  of  moment  to  communicate  to  him,  and 
must  see  him. " 

"  No  sooner, "  said  Solon,  "  had  he  got  into  the  library, 
the  like  of  which  I  may  safely  affirm  he  had  never  seen 
before,  for  his  raiment  betokened  a  poor  and  ragged  life, 
than  he  stood  and  gazed  as  much  at  his  ease  as  if  it  had 
been  his  own ;  and  then,  by  Hercules !  unbuttoning  his 
pack,  for  he  was  burdened  with  one  both  before  and  behind, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST^.  167 

ho  threw  his  old  limbs  upon  a  couch,  and  began  to  survey 
the  room !  I  could  not  but  ask  him  if  he  were  the  elder 
Piso,  old  Cneius  Piso,  come  back  from  Persia,  in  Persian 
beard  and  gown.  'Old  man,'  said  he,  'your  brain  is 
turned  with  many  books  and  the  narrow  life  you  live  here, 
shut  out  from  the  living  world  of  men.  One  man  is  worth 
all  the  books  ever  written,  save  those  of  Moses.  Go  out 
into  the  streets  and  read  him,  and  your  senses  will  come 
again.  Cneius  Piso !  Take  you  me  for  a  spirit  ?  I  am 
Isaac  the  Jew,  citizen  of  the  world,  and  dealer  in  more 
rarities  and  valuables  than  you  ever  saw  or  dreamt  of. 
Shall  I  open  my  parcels  for  thee  ? '  '  No, '  said  I ;  '  I  would 
not  take  thy  poor  gewgaws  for  a  gift.  One  worm-eaten 
book  is  worth  them  all. '  '  God  restore  thy  reason, '  said 
he,  '  and  give  thee  wisdom  before  thou  diest ;  and  that,  by 
thy  wrinkles  and  hairless  pate,  must  be  soon. '  What  more 
of  false  he  would  have  added,  I  know  not,  for  at  that  moment 
he  sprang  from  where  he  sat  like  one  suddenly  mad,  ex 
claiming,  'Holy  Abraham!  what  do  my  eyes  behold?  or  do 
they  lie  ?  Surely  that  is  Moses !  Never  was  he  on  Sinai 
if  his  image  be  not  here  !  Happy  Piso  !  and  happy  Isaac  to 
be  the  instrument  of  such  grace !  Who  could  have  thought 
it  ?  And  yet  many  a  time  in  rny  dreams  have  I  beheld  him 
with  a  beard  like  mine,  his  hat  on  his  head,  his  staff  in  his 
hand,  as  if  standing  at  the  table  of  the  Passover,  the  prin 
cess  with  him,  and  —  dreams  will  do  such  things  —  a  brood 
of  little  chickens  at  their  side.  And  now,  save  the  last, 
it  is  all  come  to  pass.  And  here,  too,  who  may  this  be? 
who  but  Aaron,  the  younger  and  milder?  He  was  the 
speaker;  and  lo !  his  hand  is  stretched  out!  And  this 
young  Joseph  is  at  his  knee,  the  better  to  interpret  his 
character  to  the  beholder.  Moses  and  Aaron  in  the  chief 
room  of  a  Roman  senator,  and  he  a  Piso !  Now,  Isaac, 
thou  mayest  tie  on  thy  pack,  and  take  thy  leave  with  a 
merry  heart ;  for  God,  if  never  before,  now  accepteth  thy 
works. '  And  much  more,  noble  sir,  in  the  same  raving 
way,  which  was  more  dark  to  my  understanding  than  the 
darkest  pages  of  Aristotle. " 


168  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

I  gathered  from  Solon  that  he  would  return  in  the  eve 
ning,  in  the  hope  to  see  me,  for  he  had  that  to  impart 
which  nearly  concerned  my  welfare. 

I  was  watching  with  Julia,  from  the  portico  which  fronts 
the  Esquiline  and  overlooks  the  city,  the  last  rays  of  the 
declining  sun,  as  they  gilded  the  roofs  and  domes  of  the 
vast  sea  of  buildings  before  us,  lingering  last  upon,  and 
turning  to  gold,  the  brazen  statues  of  Antonine  and  of 
Trajan,  when  Milo  approached  us,  saying  that  Isaac  had 
returned.  He  was  in  a  moment  more  with  us. 

"Most  noble  Piso, "  said  he,  "I  joy  to  see  thee  again; 
and  this  morning,  I  doubt  not,  I  should  have  seen  thee, 
but  for  the  obstinacy  of  an  ancient  man,  whose  wits  seem 
to  have  been  left  behind  as  he  has  gone  onward.  I  seek 
thee,  Piso,  for  matters  of  moment.  Great  princess, "  he 
suddenly  cried,  turning  to  Julia  with  as  profound  a  rever 
ence  as  his  double  burden  would  allow,  "  glad  am  I  to  greet 
thee  in  Eome,  —  not  glad  that  thou  wert  forced  to  flee  here, 
but  glad  that,  if  out  of  Palmyra,  thou  art  here  in  the  heart 
of  all  that  can  best  minister  to  thy  wants.  Not  a  wish  can 
arise  in  the  heart  but  Rome  can  answer  it.  Nay,  thou 
canst  have  few  for  that  which  is  rare  arid  costly  but  even 
I  can  answer  them.  Hast  thou  ever  seen,  princess,  those 
diamonds  brought  from  the  caves  of  mountains  a  thousand 
miles  in  the  heart  of  India,  in  which  there  lurks  a  tint,  if 
I  may  so  name  it,  like  this  last  blush  of  the  western  sky  ? 
They  are  rarer  than  humanity  in  a  Eoman,  or  apostasy  in  a 
Jew,  or  truth  in  a  Christian.  I  shall  show  thee  one ;  "  and 
he  fell  to  unlacing  his  pack  and  drawing  forth  its  treasures. 

Julia  assured  him  she  should  see  with  pleasure  whatever 
he  could  show  her  of  rich  or  rare. 

"  There  are,  lady,  jewellers,  as  they  name  themselves  in 
Kome,  who  dwell  in  magnificent  houses,  and  whose  shops 
are  half  the  length  of  a  street,  who  cannot  show  you  what 
Isaac  can  out  of  an  old  goatskin  pack.  And  how  should 
they  ?  Have  they,  as  I  have,  travelled  the  earth 's  surface, 
and  trafficked  between  crown  and  crown?  What  king  is 
there  whose  necessities  I  have  not  relieved  by  purchasing 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  169 

his  useless  gems,  or  whose  vanity  I  have  not  pleased  by 
selling  him  the  spoils  of  another  ?  Old  Sapor,  proud  as  he 
was,  was  more  than  once  in  the  grasp  of  Isaac.  There !  it 
is  in  this  case,  —  down,  you  see,  in  the  most  secret  part  of 
my  pack ;  but  who  would  look  for  wealth  under  this  sordid 
covering  ?  as  who,  lady,  for  a  soul  within  this  shrivelled 
and  shattered  body  ?  —  yet  is  there  one  there.  In  such  out 
side,  both  of  body  and  bag,  is  my  safety.  Who  cares  to 
stop  the  poor  man,  or  hold  parley  with  him  ?  None  so  free 
of  the  world  and  its  highways  as  he;  safe  alike  in  the 
streets  of  Rome  and  on  the  deserts  of  Arabia.  His  rags  are 
a  shield  stouter  than  one  of  sevenfold  bull's  hide.  Never 
but  in  such  guise  could  I  bear  such  jewels  over  the  earth's 
surface.  Here,  lady,  is  the  gem ;  never  has  it  yet  pressed 
the  finger  of  queen  or  subject.  The  stone  I  brought  from 
the  East,  and  Demetrius  here  in  Eome  hath  added  the  gold. 
Give  me  so  much  pleasure  — 

And  he  placed  it  upon  Julia's  finger.  It  flashed  a  light 
such  as  we  never  before  saw  in  stone.  It  was  evidently  a 
most  rare  and  costly  gem.  It  was  of  great  size,  and  of  a 
hue  such  as  I  had  never  before  seen. 

"This  is  a  queen's  ring,  Isaac,"  said  Julia;  "and  for 
none  else. " 

"  It  well  becomes  the  daughter  of  a  queen, "  replied  the 
Jew,  "and  the  wife  of  Piso ;  specially  seeing  that  —  ah, 
Piso!  Piso!  how  was  I  overjoyed  to-day  to  see  in  thy  room 
the  evidence  that  my  counsels  had  not  been  thrown  away. 
The  Christian  did  not  gain  thee,  with  all  his  cunning. " 

"Nay,  Isaac,"  I  here  interrupted  him;  "you  must  not 
let  your  benevolent  wishes  lead  you  into  error.  I  am  not 
yet  a  Jew.  Those  images  that  caught  your  eye  were  not 
wholly  such  as  you  took  them  for.  " 

"  Well,  well, "  said  the  philosophic  Jew,  "  rumour,  then, 
has  for  once  spoken  the  truth.  She  has  long,  as  I  learn, 
reported  thee  Christian ;.  but  I  believed  it  not.  And  to 
day,  when  I  looked  upon  those  statues,  I  pleased  myself 
with  the  thought  that  thou  and  the  princess,  like  her 
august  mother,  had  joined  yourselves  to  Israel.  But  if  it 


170  LETTERS    FROM 

be  not  so,  then  have  I  an  errand  for  thee,  which  but  now  I 
hoped  I  might  not  be  bound  to  deliver.  Piso,  there  is 
danger  brewing  for  thee,  and  for  all  who  hold  with  thee. " 

"  So  I  hear,  Isaac,  on  all  sides,  and  partly  believe  it. 
But  the  rumour  is  far  beyond  the  truth,  I  do  not  doubt. " 

"  I  think  not  so, "  said  Isaac.  "  I  believe  the  truth  is 
beyond  the  rumour.  Aurelian  intends  more  and  worse 
than  he  has  spoken ;  and  already  has  he  dipped  his  hand  in 
blood !  " 

"  What  say  you  ?  how  is  it  you  mean  ?  "  said  Julia. 

"  Whose  name  but  Aurelia's  has  been  in  the  city's  ears 
these  many  days  ?  I  can  tell  you  what  is  known  as  yet 
not  beyond  the  emperor's  palace  and  the  priest's,  —  Aurelia 
is  dead !  " 

"  Sport  not  with  us,  Isaac. " 

"  I  tell  you,  Piso,  the  simple  truth.  Aurelia  has  paid 
with  her  life  for  her  faith.  I  know  it  from  more  than  one 
whose  knowledge  in  the  matter  is  good  at  sight.  It  was 
in  the  dungeons  of  the  Fabrician  bridge  that  she  was  dealt 
with  by  Fronto,  the  priest  of  Apollo. " 

"  Aurelian,  then, "  said  Julia,  "  has  thrust  his  sickle  into 
another  field  of  slaughter,  and  will  not  draw  it  out  till  he 
swims  in  Christian  blood,  as  once  before  in  Syrian.  God 
help  these  poor  souls !  What,  Isaac,  was  the  manner  of  her 
death,  if  you  have  heard  so  much  ?  " 

"  I  have  heard  only, "  replied  Isaac,  "  that  after  long  en 
deavour  on  the  part  of  Aurelian  and  the  priest  to  draw  her 
from  her  faith  while  yet  at  the  palace,  she  was  conveyed 
to  the  prisons  I  have  named,  and  there  given  over  to  Fronto 
and  the  executioners,  with  this  only  restriction  :  that  if 
neither  threats,  nor  persuasions,  nor  the  horrid  array  of 
engines,  could  bend  her,  then  should  she  be  beheaded 
without  either  scourging  or  torture.  And  so  it  was  done. 
She  wept,  'tis  said,  as  it  were  without  ceasing,  from  the 
time  she  left  the  gardens ;  but  to.  the  priest  would  answer 
never  a  word  to  all  his  threats,  entreaties,  or  promises; 
except  once,  when  that  wicked  minister  said  to  her  that 
except  she  in  reality  and  truth  would  curse  Christ,  and 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  171 

sacrifice,  he  would  report  that  she  had  done  so,  and  so 
liberate  her,  and  return  her  to  the  palace.  At  which,  't  is 
said  that  on  the  instant  her  tears  ceased,  her  eyes  flashed 
lightning,  and  with  a  voice  which  took  the  terrific  tones  of 
Aurelian  himself,  she  said,  '  I  dare  thee  to  it,  base  priest ! 
Aurelian  is  an  honourable  man,  though  cruel  as  the  grave ; 
and  my  simple  word,  which  never  yet  he  doubted,  would 
weigh  more  than  oa.ths  from  thee,  though  piled  to  heaven. 
Do  thy  worst,  then,  quick ! '  Whereupon  the  priest,  white 
with  wrath,  first  sprang  toward  her  as  if  he  had  been  a 
beast  set  to  devour  her,  drawing  at  the  same  moment  a 
knife  from  his  robes ;  but  others  being  there,  he  stopped, 
and  cried  to  the  executioner  to  do  his  work,  —  raving  that 
he  had  it  not  in  his  power  first  to  torment  her.  Aurelia 
was  then  instantly  beheaded. " 

We  were  silent  as  he  ended, —  Julia  dissolved  in  tears. 
Isaac  went  on, — 

"  This  is  great  testimony,  Piso,  which  is  borne  to  thy 
faith.  A  poor,  weak  girl,  alone,  with  not  one  to  look  on 
and  encourage,  in  such  a  place,  and  in  the  clutches  of  such 
a  hard-hearted  wretch,  to  die  without  'once  yielding  to  her 
fears  or  the  weakness  of  her  tender  nature,  —  it  is  a  thing 
hardly  to  be  believed,  and  full  of  pity.  Piso,  thou  wilt 
despise  me  when  I  say  that  my  tribe  rejoices  at  this  and 
laughs ;  that  the  Jew  is  seen  carrying  the  news  from  house 
to  house,  and  secretly  feeding  on  it  as  a  sweet  morsel !  And 
why  should  he  not  ?  Answer  me  that,  Eoman !  Answer 
me  that,  Christian !  In  thee,  Piso,  and  in  every  Eoman 
like  thee,  there  is  compacted  into  one  the  enmity  that  has 
both  desolated  my  country,  and,  far  as  mortal  arm  may  do 
so,  dragged  down  to  the  earth  her  altars  and  her  worship. 
Judea  was  once  happy  in  her  ancient  faith ;  and  happier 
than  all  in  that  great  hope,  inspired  by  our  prophets  in 
endless  line,  of  the  advent  in  the  opening  ages  of  one  who 
should  redeem  our  land  from  the  oppressor,  and  give  to  her 
the  empire  of  the  world.  Messiah,  for  whom  we  waited, 
and  while  we  waited  were  content  to  bear  the  insults  and 
aggressions  of  the  whole  earth,  knowing  the  day  of  ven- 


172  LETTERS    FROM  ROME. 

geance  was  not  far  off,  was  to  be  to  Judea  more  than  Aure- 
lian  to  Rome.  He  was  to  be  our  prophet,  our  priest,  and 
our  king,  all  in  one ;  not  man  only,  but  the  favoured  and 
beloved  of  God,  his  Son ;  and  his  empire  was  not  to  be, 
like  this  of  Rome,  hemmed  in  by  this  sea  and  that,  hedged 
about  by  barbarians  on  this  side  and  another,  bounded  by 
rivers  and  hills,  but  was  to  stretch  over  the  habitable  earth, 
and  Rome  itself  to  be  swallowed  up  in  the  great  possession 
as  a  little  island  in  the  sea.  And  then  this  great  kingdom 
was  never  to  end.  It  could  not  be  diminished  by  an  enemy 
taking  from  it  this  province  and  another,  as  with  Rome, 
nor  could  there  be  out  of  it  any  power  whatever  that  could 
assail  it ;  for  by  the  interference  of  God,  through  the  right 
arm  of  our  great  prince,  fear  and  the  very  spirit  of  submis 
sion  were  to  fall  on  every  heart.  All  was  to  be  Judea 's, 
and  Judea 's  forever;  the  kingdom  was  to  be  over  the  whole 
earth ;  and  the  reign  forever  and  ever.  And  in  those  ages 
peace  was  to  be  on  the  earth,  and  universal  love.  God 
was  to  be  worshipped  by  all  according  to  our  law,  and 
idolatry  and  error  cease  and  come  to  an  end.  In  this  hope, 
I  say,  we  were  happy,  in  spite  of  all  our  vexations.  In 
every  heart  in  our  land,  whatever  sorrows  or  sufferings 
might  betide,  there  was  a  little  corner  where  the  spirit 
could  retire  and  comfort  itself  with  this  vision  of  futurity. 
Among  all  the  cities  of  our  land,  and  far  away  among  the 
rocks  and  valleys  by  Jordan  and  the  Salt  Sea  and  the 
mountains  of  Lebanon,  there  were  no  others  to  be  found 
than  men,  women,  and  children,  happy  in  this  belief,  and 
by  it  bound  into  one  band  of  lovers  and  friends.  And 
what,  think  you,  happened  ?  I  need  not  tell  you.  There 
came,  as  thou  knowest,  this  false  prophet  of  Galilee,  and 
beguiled  the  people  with  his  smooth  words,  and  perverted 
the  sense  of  the  prophets,  and  sowed  difference  and  discord 
among  the  people ;  and  the  cherished  vision,  upon  which 
the  nation  had  lived  and  grown,  fled  like  a  dream.  The 
Galilean  impostor  planted  himself  upon  the  soil,  and  his 
roots  of  poison  struck  down,  and  his  broad  limbs  shot 
abroad,  and  half  the  nation  was  lost.  Its  unity  was  gone, 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUST  A.  173 

its  peace  was  gone,  its  heart  broken,  its  hope  —  though 
living  still  —  yet  obscured  and  perplexed.  Canst  thou 
wonder,  then,  Piso,  or  thou,  thou  weeping  princess,  that 
the  Jew  stands  by  and  laughs  when  the  Christian's  turn 
comes  and  the  oppressor  is  oppressed,  the  destroyer  de 
stroyed  ?  And  when,  Piso,  the  Christian  had  done  his 
worst,  despoiling  us  of  our  faith,  our  hope,  our  prince,  and 
our  God,  —  not  satisfied,  he  brought  the  Roman  upon  us,  and 
despoiled  us  of  our  country  itself.  Now,  and  for  two  cen 
turies,  all  has  been  gone.  Judea,  the  beautiful  land,  sits 
solitary  and  sad,  her  sons  and  daughters  wanderers  over  the 
earth,  and  trodden  into  the  dust.  When  shall  the  light 
arise,  and  he  whom  we  yet  look  for  come  and  turn  back 
the  flood  that  has  swept  over  us,  and  reverse  the  fortunes 
befallen  to  one  and  the  other  ?  The  chariot  of  God  tarries, 
but  it  does  not  halt.  The  wheels  are  turning,  and  when 
it  is  not  thought  of,  it  will  come  rolling  onward  with  the 
voice  of  many  thunders,  and  the  great  restoration  shall  be 
made,  and  a  just  judgment  be  meted  out  to  all.  What 
wonder,  I  say  then,  Piso,  if  my  people  look  on  and  laugh 
when  this  double  enemy  is  in  straits,  when  the  Christian 
and  Roman  in  one  is  caught  in  the  snare  and  cannot 
escape  ?  That  laugh  will  ring  through  the  streets  of  Rome, 
and  will  out-sound  the  roaring  of  the  lions  and  the  shouts 
of  the  theatre.  Nature  is  strong  in  man,  Piso,  and  I  do 
not  believe  thou  wilt  think  the  worse  of  our  people  if, 
bearing  what  they  have,  this  nature  should  break  forth. 
Hate  them  not  altogether,  Roman,  when  thou  shalt  see 
them  busy  at  the  engines,  or  the  stake,  or  the  theatres. 
Remember  the  cause !  Remember  the  cause  !  But  we  are 
not  all  such.  I  wish,  Piso,  thou  couldst  abandon  this 
faith.  There  will  else  be  no  safety  to  thee,  I  fear,  ere  not 
many  days.  What  has  overtaken  the  lady  Aurelia,  of  the 
very  family  of  the  emperor,  will  surely  overtake  others. 
Piso,  I  would  fain  serve  thee,  if  I  may.  Though  I  hate 
the  Roman,  and  the  Christian,  and  thee,  as  a  Jew,  yet  so 
am  I  that  I  cannot  hate  them  as  a  man,  or  not  unto  death ; 
and  thee  do  I  love.  Now,  it  is  my  counsel  that  thou  do  in 


174  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

season  escape.  Now  thou  canst  do  it ;  wait  but  a  few  days, 
and  perhaps  thou  canst  no  longer.  What  I  say  is,  fly !  and 
it  were  best  to  the  farthest  East ;  first  to  Palmyra,  and  then, 
if  need  be,  to  Persia.  This,  Piso,  is  what  I  am  come  for. " 

"  Isaac,  this  all  agrees  with  the  same  goodness  —  " 

"  I  am  a  poor,  miserable  wretch,  whom  God  may  forgive, 
because  his  compassions  never  fail,  but  who  has  no  claim 
on  his  mercy,  and  will  be  content  to  sit  hereafter  where 
he  shall  but  just  now  and  then  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
righteous. " 

"  I  must  speak  my  thoughts,  not  yours,  Isaac.  This  all 
agrees  with  what  we  have  known  of  you ;  and  with  all  our 
hearts  you  have  our  thanks.  But  we  are  bound  to  this 
place  by  ties  stronger  than  any  that  bind  us  to  life,  and 
must  not  depart. " 

"  Say  not  so.  Lady,  speak !  Why  should  ye  remain  to 
add  to  the  number  that  must  fall  ?  Rank  will  not  stand  in 
the  way  of  Aurelian.  " 

"  That  we  know  well,  Isaac, "  said  Julia.  "  We  should 
not  look  for  any  shield  such  as  that  to  protect  us,  nor  for 
any  other.  Life  is  not  the  chief  thing,  Isaac.  What  is 
life  without  liberty  ?  Would  you  live  a  slave  ?  and  is  not 
he  the  meanest  slave  who  bends  his  will  to  another,  —  who 
renounces  the  thoughts  he  dearly  cherishes,  for  another's 
humour  ?  Who  will  beggar  the  soul  to  save  or  serve  the 
body  ? " 

"  Alas,  princess,  I  fear  there  is  more  courage  in  thee, 
woman  as  thou  art,  than  in  this  old  frame !  I  love  my 
faith  too,  princess,  and  I  labour  for  it  in  my  way ;  but  may 
the  God  of  Abraham  spare  me  from  the  last  trial !  And 
wouldst  thou  give  up  thy  body  to  the  tormentors  and  the 
executioner,  to  keep  the  singleness  of  thy  mind,  so  that 
merely  a  few  little  thoughts,  which  no  man  can  see,  may 
run  in  and  out  of  it  as  they  list?  " 

"  Even  so,  Isaac.  " 

"  It  is  wonderful, "  exclaimed  the  Jew,  "  what  a  strength 
there  is  in  man !  how  for  an  opinion,  which  can  be  neither 
bought,  nor  sold,  nor  weighed,  nor  handled,  nor  seen, —  a 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  175 

thing  that,  by  the  side  of  lands,  and  gold,  and  houses, 
seems  less  than  the  dust  of  the  balance, —  men  and  women, 
yea,  and  little  children,  will  suffer  and  die,  when  a  word 
too,  which  is  but  a  little  breath  blown  out  of  the  mouth, 
would  save  them  !  " 

"  But  it  is  no  longer  wonderful,"  said  Julia,  "  when  we 
look  at  our  whole  selves,  and  not  only  at  one  part.  We 
are  all  double, —  one  part  of  earth,  another  of  heaven;  one 
part  gross  body,  the  other  ethereal  spirit ;  one  part  life  of 
the  body,  the  other  life  of  the  soul.  Which  of  these  parts 
is  the  better,  it  is  not  hard  to  determine.  Should  I  gain 
much  by  defiling  the  heavenly  for  the  sake  of  the  earthly, 
by  injuring  the  mind  for  the  preservation  of  the  body,  by 
keeping  longer  the  life  I  live  now,  and  darkening  over  the 
prospect  of  the  life  that  is  hereafter  ?  If  I  possess  a  single 
truth,  which  I  firmly  believe  to  be  a  truth,  I  cannot  say 
that  it  is  a  lie,  for  the  sake  of  some  present  benefit  or  de 
liverance,  without  fixing  a  stain  thereby,  not  on  the  body 
which  by  and  by  perishes,  but  on  the  soul  which  is  im 
mortal,  and  which  should  forever  bear  about  with  it  the 
unsightly  spot.  " 

"  It  is  so  —  it  is  as  you  say,  lady ;  and  rarely  has  the 
Jew  been  known  to  deny  his  name  and  his  faith.  Since 
you  have  spoken,  I  find  thoughts  called  up  which  have 
long  slept.  Despise  me  not  for  my  proposal,  yet  I  would 
there  were  a  way  of  escape !  Flight  now  would  not  be 
denial  or  apostasy. " 

"  It  would  not, "  said  Julia ;  "  and  we  may  not  judge  with 
harshness  those  whose  human  courage  fails  them  under  the 
apprehension  of  the  horrible  sufferings  which  often  await 
the  persecuted.  But  with  my  convictions,  and  Piso's,  the 
guilt  and  baseness  of  flight  or  concealment  would  be  little 
less  than  that  of  denial  or  apostasy.  We  have  chosen  this 
religion  for  its  divine  truth  and  its  immortal  prospects ;  we 
believe  it  a  good  which  God  has  sent  to  us ;  we  believe 
it  the  most  valuable  possession  we  hold ;  we  believe  it 
essential  to  the  world's  improvement  and  happiness.  Be 
lieving  it  thus,  we  must  stand  by  it;  and  if  it  come  to  this, 


17G  LETTEKS  FROM   ROME. 

—  as  I  trust  in  heaven  it  will  not,  notwithstanding  the 
darkness  of  the  portents, —  that  our  regard  for  it  will  be 
questioned  except  we  die  for  it,  then  we  will  die. " 

Isaac  rose  and  began  to  fasten  on  his  pack.  As  he  did 
so  he  said,  — 

"  Excellent  lady,  I  grieve  that  thou  shouldst  be  brought 
from  thy  far  home,  and  those  warm  and  sunny  skies,  to 
meet  the  rude  shocks  of  this  wintry  land.  It  was  enough 
to  see  what  thou  didst  there,  and  to  know  what  befell  thy 
ancient  friends.  The  ways  of  Providence  to  our  eyes  are 
darker  than  the  Egyptian  night  brought  upon  that  land  by 
the  hand  of  Moses.  It  is  darkness  solid  and  impenetrable. 
The  mole  sees  farther  toward  the  earth's  centre  than  does 
my  dim  eye  into  the  judgments  of  God.  And  what  wonder, 
when  he  is  God  looking  down  upon  earth  and  man's  ways 
as  I  upon  an  ant-hill,  and  seeing  all  at  once?  To  such  an 
eye,  lady,  that  may  be  best  which  to  mine  is  worst. " 

"  I  believe  it  is  often  so,  Isaac, "  replied  Julia.  "  Just 
as  in  nauseous  drugs  or  rankest  poisons  there  is  hidden 
away  medicinal  virtue,  so  is  there  spiritual  balm  for  the 
soul,  by  which  its  worst  diseases  are  healed  and  its  highest 
health  promoted,  in  sufferings  which,  as  they  first  fall  upon 
us,  we  lament  as  unmitigated  evil.  I  know  of  no  'state 
of  mind  so  proper  to  beings  like  us  as  that  indicated  by 
a  saying  of  Christ,  which  I  shall  repeat  to  you,  though  you 
honour  not  its  source,  and  which  seems  to  me  to  compre 
hend  all  religion  and  philosophy  :  '  Not  my  will,  but  thine, 
O  God,  be  done !'  We  never  take  our  true  position,  and  so 
never  can  be  contented  and  happy,  till  we  renounce  our  own 
will,  and  believe  all  the  whole  providence  of  God  to  be 
wisest  and  best,  simply  because  it  is  his.  Should  I  dare, 
were  the  power  this  moment  given  me,  to  strike  out  for 
myself  my  path  in  life,  arrange  its  events,  fix  my  lot? 
Not  the  most  trivial  incident  can  be  named  that  I  should 
not  tremble  to  order  otherwise  than  as  it  happens.  " 

"  There  is  wisdom,  princess,  in  the  maxim  of  thy  prophet, 
and  its  spirit  is  found  in  many  of  the  sayings  of  truer 
prophets  who  went  before  him,  and  whose  words  are 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  177 

familiar  to  thy  royal  mother,  though  I  fear  they  are  not  to 
thee  ;  a  misfortune  wholly  to  be  traced  to  that  misadventure 
of  thine,  Piso,  in  being  thrown  into  the  company  of  the 
Christian  Probus  on  board  the  Mediterranean  trader.  Had 
I  been  alone  with  thee  on  that  voyage,  who  can  say  that 
thou  wouldst  not  now  have  been  what  but  this  morning  I 
took  thee  for,  as  I  looked  upon  those  marble  figures  ?  " 

"  But,  Isaac,  forget  not  your  own  principles, "  said  Julia. 
"  May  you,  who  cannot,  as  you  have  said,  see  the  end  from 
the  beginning,  and  whose  sight  is  but  a  mole's,  dare  to 
complain  of  the  providence  which  threw  Piso  into  the  so 
ciety  of  the  Christian  Probus  ?  I  am  sure  you  would  not, 
on  reflection,  re-arrange  those  events,  were  it  now  permitted 
you.  And  seeing,  Isaac,  how  much  better  things  are  or 
dered  by  the  Deity  than  we  could  do,  and  how  we  should 
choose  voluntarily  to  surrender  all  into  his  hands,  whose 
wisdom  is  so  much  more  perfect,  and  whose  power  is  so 
much  more  vast  than  ours,  ought  we  not,  as  a  necessary  con 
sequence  of  this,  to  acquiesce  in  events  without  complaint 
when  they  have  once  occurred  ?  If  Providence  has  made 
both  Piso  and  Probus  Christians,  then  ought  you  not  to 
complain,  but  acquiesce, —  and  more  than  that,  revere  the 
Providence  that  has  done  it,  and  love  those  none  the  less 
whom  it  has  directed  into  the  path  in  which  it  would  have 
them  go.  True  piety  is  the  mother  of  charity.  " 

"  Princess, "  rejoined  Isaac,  "  you  are  right.  The  true 
love  of  God  cannot  exist  without  making  us  true  lovers  of 
man ;  and  Piso  I  do  love,  and  think  none  the  worse  of  him 
for  his  Christian  name.  But  touching  Probus  and  others, 
I  experience  some  difficulty.  Yet  may  I  perhaps  escape 
thus :  I  may  love  them  as  men,  yet  hate  them  as  Chris 
tians  ;  just  as  I  would  bind  up  the  wounds  of  a  thief  or  an 
assassin  whom  I  found  by  the  wayside,  and  yet  the  next 
hour  bear  witness  against  him,  and  without  compunction 
behold  him  swinging  upon  the  gibbet !  It  is  hard,  lady, 
for  the  Jew  to  love  a  Christian  and  a  Roman.  But  how 
have  I  been  led  away  from  what  I  wished  chiefly  to  say 
before  departing.  When  I  spake  just  now  of  the  darkness 

12 


178  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

of  Providence,  I  was  thinking,  Piso,  of  my  journey  across 
the  desert  for  thy  Persian  brother,  Calpurnius.  That,  as 
I  then  said  to  thee,  was  dark  to  me.  I  could  not  compre 
hend  how  it  should  come  to  pass  that  I,  a  Jew,  of  no  less 
zeal  than  Simon  Ben  Gorah  himself,  should  tempt  such 
dangers  in  the  service  of  thee,  a  Eoman  and  half  a 
Christian. " 

"  And  is  the  enigma  solved  at  length?  "  asked  Julia.  "  I 
could  have  interpreted  it  by  saying  that  the  merit  of  doing 
a  benevolent  action  was  its  solution.  " 

"  That  was  little  or  nothing,  princess.  But  I  confess  to 
thee  that  the  two  gold  talents  of  Jerusalem  were  much. 
Still,  neither  they,  nor  what  profit  I  made  in  the  streets  of 
Ecbatana,  and  even  out  of  that  new  Solomon,  the  hospitable 
Levi,  clearly  explained  the  riddle.  I  have  been  in  darkness 
till  of  late.  And  how,  think  you,  the  darkness  has  been 
dispersed  ? " 

"  We  cannot  tell.  " 

"  I  believe  not.  Piso !  princess  !  I  am  the  happiest  man 
in  Eome. " 

"  Not  happier,  Isaac,  than  Civilis  the  perfumer.  " 

"  Name  him  not,  Piso.  Of  all  the  men, —  he  is  no  man, 
—  of  all  the  living  things  in  Eome,  I  hold  him  meanest. 
Him,  Piso,  I  hate.  Why,  I  will  not  tell  thee,  but  thou 
mayest  guess.  Nay,  not  now.  I  would  have  thee  first 
know  why  I  am  the  happiest  man  in  Eome.  Eemember 
you  the  woman  and  the  child  whom  in  the  midst  of  that 
burning  desert  we  found  sitting  more  dead  than  alive  at  the 
roots  of  a  cedar,  —  the  wife,  as  we  afterwards  found,  of 
Hassan  the  camel-driver,  —  and  how  that  child,  the  living 
resemblance  of  my  dead  Joseph,  wound  itself  round  my 
heart,  and  how  I  implored  the  mother  to  trust  it  to  me  as 
mine,  and  I  would  make  it  richer  than  the  riches  of 
Ecbatana  ?  " 

"  We  remember  it  all  well. 

"  Well,  rejoice  with  me !     Hassan  is  dead !  " 

"  Kejoice  in  her  husband's  death  ?  Nay,  that  we  cannot 
do.  Milo  will  rejoice  with  thee. " 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  179 

"  Rejoice  with  me,  then,  that  Hassan  being  dead  by  the 
providence  of  God,  Hagar  and  Ishmael  are  now  mine !  " 
and  the  Jew  threw  down  his  pack  again  in  the  excess  of 
his  joy,  and  strode  wildly  about  the  portico. 

"  This  is  something  indeed, "  said  Julia.  "  Now  we  can 
rejoice  sincerely  with  you.  But  how  happened  all  this  ? 
When  and  how  have  you  obtained  the  news  ?  " 

"  Hassan, "  replied  Isaac,  "  as  Providence  willed  it,  died 
in  Palmyra,  His  disconsolate  widow,  hearing  of  his  death, 
in  her  poverty  and  affliction  bethought  herself  of  me,  and 
applied  for  intelligence  of  me  to  Levi ;  from  whom  a  letter 
came,  saying  that  Hagar  had  made  now  on  her  part  the 
proposal  that  had  once  been  made  on  mine,  —  that  Ishmael 
should  be  mine,  provided  he  was  not  to  be  separated  from 
his  mother  and  a  sister  older  than  he  by  four  years.  I  indeed 
proposed  not  for  the  woman,  but  for  the  child  only  —  nor  for 
the  sister.  But  they  will  all  be  welcome.  They  must  by 
this  time  be  in  Palmyra,  on  their  way  to  Eome.  Yes,  they 
will  be  all  welcome !  for  now  once  more  shall  the  pleasant 
bonds  of  a  home  hold  me,  and  the  sounds  of  children's 
voices,  sweeter  to  my  ear  than  will  ever  be  the  harps  of 
angels,  though  Gabriel  sweep  the  strings.  Already,  in  the 
street  Janus,  where  our  tribe  most  resort,  have  I  purchased 
me  a  house ;  not,  Roman,  such  a  one  as  I  dwelt  in  in  Pal 
myra,  where  thou  and  thy  foolish  slave  searched  me  out, 
but  large  and  well  ordered,  abounding  with  all  that 
woman's  heart  could  most  desire.  And  now,  what  think 
you  of  all  this  ?  whither  tends  it  ?  to  what  leads  all  this 
long  and  costly  preparation  ?  what,  think  you,  is  to  come 
of  it  ?  I  have  my  own  judgment.  This  I  know,  it  cannot 
be  all  for  this,  that  a  little  child  of  a  few  years  should 
come  and  dwell  with  an  old  man  little  removed  from  the 
very  borders  of  the  grave !  Had  it  been  only  for  this,  so 
large  and  long  a  train  of  strange  and  wild  events  would  not 
have  been  laid.  This  child,  Piso,  is  more  than  he  seems! 
take  that  and  treasure  it  up.  It  is  to  this  the  finger  of  God 
has  all  along  pointed.  He  is  more  than  he  seems !  What 
he  will  be  I  say  not,  but  I  can  dimly,  nay,  clearly  guess. 


180  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

And  his  mother,  Piso,  what  will  you  think  when  I  say  that 
she  is  a  Jewess  ?  and  his  father,  what  will  you  think 
when  I  tell  you  that  he  was  born  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Galilean  lake  ?  that  misfortunes  and  the  love  of  a  wander 
ing  life  drew  him  from  Judea  to  the  farther  East,  and  to  a 
temporary  and  but  apparent  apostasy,  I  am  persuaded, 
from  his  proper  faith?  This  to  me  is  all  wonderful. 
Never  have  I  doubted  that  by  my  hand,  by  me  as  a  media 
tor,  some  great  good  was  to  accrue  to  Jerusalem.  And  now 
the  clouds  divide,  and  my  eye  sees  what  has  been  so  long 
concealed.  It  shall  all  come  to  pass  before  thy  young 
frame,  princess,  shall  be  touched  by  years. " 

"  We  wish  you  all  happiness  and  joy,  Isaac, "  replied 
Julia ;  "  and  as  soon  as  this  young  family  shall  have  reached 
your  dwelling,  we  shall  trust  to  see  them  all,  specially  this 
young  object  of  thy  great  expectations. " 

Isaac  again  fastened  on  his  pack,  and  taking  leave  of  us, 
turned  to  depart;  but  ere  he  did  so  he  paused,  fixed  his 
dark  eyes  upon  us,  hesitated,  and  then  said, — 

"  Lady,  if  trouble  flow  in  upon  you  here  in  Rome,  and 
thou  wilt  not  fly  as  I  have  counselled  to  Palmyra;  but 
thou  shouldst  by  and  by  change  thy  mind  and  desire  safety, 
or  Piso  should  wish  thee  safe,  —  perhaps  that  by  thy  life 
thou  mightest  work  more  mightily  for  thy  faith  than  thou 
couldst  do  by  thy  death :  for  oftentimes  it  is  not  by  dying 
that  we  best  serve  God,  but  by  living, —  then  bethink  thee 
of  my  dwelling  in  the  street  Janus,  where,  if  thou  shouldst 
once  come,  I  would  challenge  all  the  bloodhounds  in  Eome, 
and,  what  is  more  and  worse,  Fronto  and  Varus  leagued,  to 
find  thee.  Peace  be  with  you.  " 

And  so  saying,  he  quickly  parted  from  us. 

All  Eome,  Fausta,  holds  not  a  man  of  a  larger  heart  than 
Isaac  the  Jew.  For  us,  Christians  as  we  are,  there  is,  I 
believe,  no  evil  to  himself  he  would  not  hazard,  if  in  no 
other  way  he  could  shield  us  from  the  dangers  that  impend. 
In  his  conscience  he  feels  bound  to  hate  us,  and  often,  from 
the  language  he  uses,  it  might  be  inferred  that  he  does  so. 
But  in  any  serious  expression  of  his  feelings,  his  human 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  181 

affections  ever  obtain  the  victory  over  the  obligations  of 
hatred  which  his  love  of  country,  as  he  thinks,  imposes 
upon  him,  and  it  would  be  difficult  for  him  to  manifest  a 
warmer  regard  toward  any  of  his  own  tribe  than  he  does 
toward  Julia  and  myself.  He  is  firmly  persuaded  that 
Providence  is  using  him  as  an  instrument  by  which  to 
effect  the  redemption  and  deliverance  of  his  country ;  not 
that  he  himself  is  to  prove  the  Messiah  of  his  nation,  as 
they  term  their  great  expected  prince,  but  that  through 
him,  in  some  manner,  by  some  service  rendered  or  office 
filled,  that  great  personage  will  manifest  himself  to  Israel. 
No  disappointment  damps  his  zeal,  or  convinces  him  of 
the  futility  of  expectations  resting  upon  no  other  founda 
tion  that  his  own  inferences,  conjectures,  or  fanciful  inter 
pretation  of  the  dark  sayings  of  the  prophets.  When  in 
the  East  it  was  through  Palmyra  that  his  country  was  to 
receive  her  king,  —  through  her  victories  that  redemption 
was  to  be  wrought  out  for  Israel.  Being  compelled  to  let 
go  that  dear  and  cherished  hope,  he  now  fixes  it  upon  this 
little  "  Joseph, "  and  it  will  not  be  strange  if  this  child  of 
poverty  and  want  should  in  the  end  inherit  all  his  vast 
possessions,  by  which  he  will  please  himself  with  thinking 
he  can  force  his  way  to  the  throne  of  Judea.  Portia  derives 
great  pleasure  from  his  conversation,  and  frequently  detains 
him  long  for  that  purpose ;  and  of  her,  Isaac  is  never  weary 
of  uttering  the  loudest  and  most  extravagant  praise.  I 
sometimes  wonder  that  I  never  knew  him  before  the  Medi 
terranean  voyage,  seeing  he  was  so  well  known  to  Portia ; 
but  then  again  I  do  not  when  I  remember  by  what  swarms 
of  mendicants,  strangers,  and  impostors  of  every  sort, 
Portia  was  ever  surrounded,  from  whom  I  turned  instinct 
ively  away;  especially  did  I  ever  avoid  all  intercourse 
with  Christians  and  Jews.  I  held  them,  of  all,  lowest 
and  basest. 

We  are  just  returned  from  Tibur,  where  we  have  enjoyed 
many  pleasant  hours  with  Zenobia.  Livia  was  there  also. 
The  day  was,  in  its  warmth,  absolutely  Syrian ;  and  while 
losing  ourselves  in  the  mazes  of  the  queen's  extensive  gar- 


182  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

dens,  we  almost  fancied  ourselves  in  Palmyra.  Nichoma- 
chus  being  of  the  company,  as  he  ever  is,  and  Vabalathus, 
we  needed  but  you,  Calpurnius,  and  Gracchus,  to  complete 
the  illusion. 

The  queen  devotes  herself  to  letters.  She  is  rarely  drawn 
from  her  favourite  studies  but  by  the  arrival  of  friends  from 
Borne.  Happy  for  her  is  it  that,  carried  back  to  other  ages 
by  the  truths  of  history,  or  transported  to  other  worlds  by 
the  fictions  of  poetry,  the  present  and  the  recent  can  be  in 
a  manner  forgotten ;  or  at  least  that  in  these  intervals  of 
repose  the  soul  can  gather  strength  for  the  thoughts  and 
recollections  which  will  intrude,  and  which  still  sometimes 
overmaster  her.  Her  correspondence  with  you  is  another 
chief  solace.  She  will  not  doubt  that  by  and  by  a  greater 
pleasure  awaits,  and  that  instead  of  your  letters  she  shall 
receive  and  enjoy  yourself.  Farewell. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  183 


LETTER   VII. 

FROM   PISO  TO  FAUSTA. 

MACER.  —  THE  UNJUST  PREFECT.  —  MACER'S  PREACHING.  —  LIVIA 
IN  SORROW.  —  THE  WIFE  OF  MACER. 

THE  body  of  the  Christians,  as  you  may  well  suppose, 
Fausta,  are  in  a  state  of  much  agitation.  Though 
they  cannot  discern  plainly  the  form  of  the  danger  that  im 
pends,  yet  they  see  it  dimly ;  and  the  very  obscurity  in 
which  it  is  involved  perhaps  adds  to  their  fears.  It  is 
several  days  since  I  last  wrote,  yet  not  a  word  has  come 
from  the  palace.  Aurelian  is  seen  as  usual  in  all  public 
places;  at  the  Capitol,  taking  charge  of  the  erection  and 
completion  of  various  public  edifices ;  or  if  at  the  palace, 
he  rides  as  hard  as  ever  and  as  much  upon  his  hippodrome ; 
or  if  at  the  praetorian  camp,  he  is  exact  and  severe  as  ever 
in  maintaining  the  discipline  of  the  legions.  He  has  issued 
no  public  order  of  any  kind  that  bears  upon  us.  Yet  not 
only  the  Christians,  but  the  whole  city  stand  as  if  in  ex 
pectation  of  measures  of  no  little  severity,  going  at  least  to 
the  abridgment  of  many  of  our  liberties,  and  to  the  depri 
vation  of  many  privileges.  This  is  grounded,  chiefly, 
doubtless,  upon  the  reported  imprisonment  of  Aurelia ;  for 
though  some  have  little  hesitation  in  declaring  their  belief 
that  she  has  been  made  away  with,  others  believe  it  not  at 
all,  and  none  can  assign  a  reason  for  receiving  one  story 
rather  than  another.  How  Isaac  came  to  be  possessed  of 
his  information  I  do  not  know,  but  it  bore  all  the  marks  of 
truth.  He  would  inform  me  neither  how  he  came  by  it, 
nor  would  he  allow  it  to  be  communicated.  But  it  would 
never  be  surprising  to  discover  that  of  my  most  private 
affairs  he  has  a  better  knowledge  than  myself. 


184  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

Do  not,  from  what  I  have  said,  conceive  of  the  Christians 
as  giving  any  signs  of  unmanly  fear.  They  perceive  that 
danger  threatens,  but  they  change  not  their  manner  of  life, 
nor  turn  from  the  daily  path  of  their  pursuits.  Believing 
in  a  Providence,  they  put  their  trust  in  it.  Their  faith 
stands  them  in  stead,  as  a  sufficient  support  and  refuge. 
They  cannot  pretend,  any  more  than  Isaac,  to  see  through 
the  plans  and  purposes  of  Heaven.  They  pretend  not  to 
know,  nor  to  be  able  to  explain  to  another,  why,  if  what 
they  receive  is  the  truth,  and  they  are  true  believers  in  a 
true  religion,  they  should  be  exposed  to  such  sufferings  for 
its  sake ;  and  why  that  which  is  false,  and  injurious  as 
false,  should  triumph.  It  is  enough  for  them,  they  say,  to 
be  fully  persuaded,  to  know  arid  possess  the  truth.  They 
can  never  relinquish  it ;  they  will  rather  die.  But  whether 
Christianity  die  with  them  or  not,  they  cannot  tell ;  that 
they  leave  to  God.  They  do  not  believe  that  it  will ; 
prophecy,  and  the  present  condition  of  the  world,  notwith 
standing  a  present  overhanging  cloud,  give  them  confidence 
in  the  ultimate  extension  and  power  of  their  faith.  At  any 
rate,  it  shall  receive  no  injury  at  their  hands.  They  have 
professed  it  during  twenty  years  of  prosperity,  and  have 
boasted  of  it  before  the  world ;  they  shall  profess  it  with 
the  same  boldness  and  the  same  grateful  attachment  now 
that  adversity  approaches.  They  are  fixed,  calm,  un 
moved.  Except  for  a  deeper  tone  of  earnestness  and  feeling 
when  you  converse  with  them,  and  a  cast  of  sadness  upon 
the  countenance,  you  would  discern  no  alteration  in  their 
conduct  or  manner. 

I  might  rather  say  that  in  a  very  large  proportion  there 
are  observable  the  signs  of  uncommon  and  almost  unnatural 
exhilaration.  They  even  greet  the  coming  of  trouble  as 
that  which  shall  put  their  faith  to  the  test,  shall  give  a 
new  testimony  of  the  readiness  of  Christians  to  suffer, 
and,  like  the  former  persecution,  give  it  a  new  impulse 
forwards.  They  seek  occasions  of  controversy  and  conver 
sation  with  the  pagans,  at  public  places,  at  their  labour, 
and  in  the  streets.  The  preachers  assume  a  bolder,  louder 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  185 

tone,  and  declaim  with  ten  times  more  vehemence  than 
ever  against  the  enormities  and  abominations  of  the  popular 
religion.  Often  at  the  market-places  and  at  the  corners  of 
the  streets  are  those  to  be  seen,  not  authorized  preachers 
perhaps,  but  believers,  and  overflowing  with  zeal,  who,  at 
the  risk  of  whatever  popular  fury  and  violence,  hold  forth 
the  truth  in  Christ,  and  denounce  the  reigning  idolatries 
and  superstitions.  At  the  head  of  these  is  Macer, —  at 
their  head  both  as  respects  the  natural  vigour  of  his  under 
standing,  and  the  perfect  honesty  and  integrity  of  his 
mind,  and  his  dauntless  courage.  Every  day,  and  all  the 
day,  is  he  to  be  found  in  the  streets  of  Eome,  sometimes  in 
one  quarter,  sometimes  in  another,  gathering  an  audience 
of  the  passengers  or  idlers,  as  it  may  be,  and  sounding  in 
their  ears  the  truths  of  the  new  religion.  That  he,  and 
others  of  the  same  character,  deserve,  in  all  they  do,  the 
approbation  of  the  Christian  body,  or  receive  it,  is  more 
than  can  be  said.  They  are  often,  by  their  violences  in 
the  midst  of  their  harangues,  by  harsh  and  uncharitable 
denunciations,  by  false  and  exaggerated  statements,  the 
causes  of  tumult  and  disorder,  and  contribute  greatly  to 
increase  the  general  exasperation  against  us.  With  them 
it  seems  to  be  a  maxim  that  all  means  are  lawful  in  a  good 
cause.  Nay,  they  seem  rather  to  prefer  the  ruder  and 
rougher  forms  of  attack.  They  seem  possessed  of  the  idea 
that  the  world  is  to  be  converted  in  a  day,  and  that  if  men 
will  not  at  once  relinquish  the  prejudices  or  the  faith  of 
years,  they  are  fit  but  for  cursings  and  burnings.  In  set 
ting  forth  the  mildest  doctrine  the  world  ever  knew,  deliv 
ered  to  mankind  by  the  gentlest  and  most  patient  and 
compassionate  being  it  ever  saw,  they  assume  a  manner, 
and  use  a  language,  so  entirely  at  variance  with  their 
theme  that  it  is  no  wonder  if  prejudices  are  strengthened 
oftener  than  they  are  set  loose,  incredulity  made  more  in 
credulous,  and  the  hardened  heart  yet  harder.  They  who 
hear  notice  the  discrepancy,  and  fail  not  to  make  the  use 
of  it  they  may.  When  will  men  learn  that  the  mind  is  a 
fortress  that  can  never  be  taken  by  storm  ?  You  may  indeed 


186  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

enter  it  rudely,  and  by  violence,  and  the  signs  of  submis 
sion  shall  be  made ;  but  all  the  elements  of  opposition  are 
still  there.  Reason  has  not  been  convinced ;  errors  and 
misconceptions  have  not  been  removed  by  a  wise,  and 
logical,  and  humane  dealing,  and  supplanted  by  truths  well 
proved,  and  shown  to  be  truths ;  and  the  victory  is  one  in 
appearance  only.  And  the  mere  show  of  violence,  on  the 
part  of  the  reformer  and  assailant,  begets  violence  on  the 
other  side.  The  whole  inward  man,  with  all  his  feelings, 
prejudices,  reason,  is  instantly  put  into  a  posture  of  de 
fence  ;  not  only  of  defence,  for  that  were  right,  but  of  angry 
defence,  which  is  wrong.  Passion  is  up,  which  might 
otherwise  have  slept;  and  it  is  passion,  never  reason, 
which  truth  has  to  fear.  The  intellect,  in  its  pure  form, 
the  advocate  of  truth  would  always  prefer  to  meet,  for  he 
can  never  make  sure  of  a  step  made  till  this  has  been 
gained.  But  intellect  inflamed  by  passion  he  may  well 
dread,  as  what  there  is  but  small  hope  even  of  approaching, 
much  less  of  convincing. 

Often  has  Probus  remonstrated  with  this  order  of  men, 
but  in  vain.  They  heed  him  not;  but  in  return  charge 
him  with  coldness  and  indifference,  worldliness  and  all  other 
associated  faults.  Especially  has  he  laboured  to  preserve 
Macer  from  the  extremes  to  which  he  has  run ;  for  he  has 
seen  in  him  an  able  advocate  of  Christian  truth,  could  he 
but  be  moderated  and  restrained.  But  Macer,  though  he 
has  conceived  the  strongest  affection  for  Probus,  will  not 
allow  himself  in  this  matter  to  be  influenced  by  him.  He 
holds  himself  answerable  to  conscience  and  God  alone  for 
the  course  he  pursues.  As  for  the  consequences  that  may 
ensue,  either  to  himself  or  his  family,  his  mind  cannot  en 
tertain  them.  It  is  for  Christ  he  lives,  and  for  Christ  he 
is  ready  to  die. 

I  had  long  wished  to  meet  him,  and  witness  his  manner 
both  of  acting  and  of  preaching,  and  yesterday  I  was  fortu 
nate  enough  to  encounter  him.  I  shall  give  you,  as  exactly 
as  I  can,  what  took  place ;  it  will  show  you  better  than 
many  letters  could  do  what  in  one  direction  our  position  is, 
and  our  prospects  are. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  187 

I  was  in  the  act  of  crossing  the  great  avenue  which  on 
the  south  leads  to  the  Forum,  when  I  was  arrested  by  a 
disorderly  crowd,  such  as  we  often  see  gathered  suddenly 
in  the  street  of  a  city  about  a  thief  who  has  been  caught,  or 
a  person  who  has  been  trodden  down  on  the  pavement.  It 
moved  quickly  in  the  direction  of  the  tribunal  of  Varus ; 
and  what  was  my  surprise  to  behold  Macer  in  the  midst, 
with  head  aloft,  and  inflamed  countenance,  holding  in  his 
grasp  and  dragging  onwards  one  who  would  willingly  have 
escaped.  The  crowd  seemed  disposed,  as  I  judged  by  the 
vituperations  that  were  directed  against  Macer,  to  interfere, 
but  were  apparently  deterred  both  by  the  gigantic  form  of 
Macer,  and  their  vicinity  to  the  tribunal,  whither  he  was 
going.  Waiting  till  they  were  some  distance  in  advance  of 
me,  I  then  followed,  determined  to  judge  for  myself  of  this 
singular  man.  I  was  with  them  in  the  common  hall,  before 
the  prefect  had  taken  his  seat.  When  seated  at  his  tribu 
nal,  he  inquired  the  cause  of  the  tumult,  and  who  it  was 
that  wished  to  appeal  to  him. 

"  I  am  the  person, "  said  Macer ;  "  and  I  come  to  drag  to 
justice  this  miscreant  —  " 

"  And  who  may  you  be  ?  " 

"  I  should  think  Varus  might  recognize  Macer.  " 

"  It  is  so  long  since  I  met  thee  last  at  the  emperor's  table, 
that  thy  features  have  escaped  me. " 

At  which,  as  was  their  duty,  the  attendant  rabble 
laughed. 

Is  there  any  one  present,  continued  the  prefect,  "  who 
knows  this  man  ?  " 

"  Varus  need  apply  to  no  other  than  myself,  "  said  Macer. 
"  I  am  Macer,  the  son  of  that  Macer  who  was  neighbour  of 
the  gladiator  Pollex  —  " 

"  Hold,  I  say  !  "  interrupted  the  prefect ;  "  a  man  wit 
nesses  not  here  of  himself.  Can  any  one  here  say  that  this 
man  is  not  crazy  or  drunk  ?  " 

"  Varus !  Prefect  Varus  !  "  cried  Macer,  his  eyes  flashing 
lightning,  and  his  voice  not  less  than  thunder;  but  he  was 
again  interrupted. 


188  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  Peace,  slave !  or  rods  shall  teach  thee  where  thou  art. " 
And  at  the  same  moment,  at  a  sign  from  Varus,  he  was  laid 
hold  of  with  violence  by  officials  of  the  palace,  armed  with 
spears  and  rods,  and  held. 

"  What  I  wish  to  know,  then, "  said  Varus,  turning  to 
the  crowd,  "  is  whether  this  is  not  the  street  brawler,  one 
of  the  impious  Galileans,  —  a  man  who  should  long  ago 
have  been  set  in  the  stocks  to  find  leisure  for  better 
thoughts. " 

Several  testified,  as  was  desired,  that  this  was  he. 

"  This  is  all  I  wish  to  know, "  said  the  prefect.  "  The 
man  is  either  without  wits  or  they  are  disordered,  or  else 
the  pestilent  faith  he  teaches  has  made  the  nuisance  of  him 
he  is,  as  it  does  of  all  who  meddle  with  it.  It  is  scarcely 
right  that  he  should  be  abroad.  Yet  has  he  committed  no 
offence  that  condemns  him  either  to  scourging  or  the  prison. 
Hearken,  therefore,  fellow!  I  now  dismiss  thee  without 
the  scourging  thou  well  deservest;  but  if  thou  keep  on  thy 
wild  and  lawless  way,  racks  and  dungeons  shall  teach  thee 
what  there  is  in  Eoman  justice.  Away  with  him !  " 

"  Eomans  !  Eoman  citizens  !  "  cried  Macer ;  "  are  these 
your  laws,  and  this  your  judge  ?  " 

"  Away  with  him,  I  say !  "  cried  the  prefect ;  and  the 
officers  of  the  palace  hurried  him  out  of  the  hall. 

As  he  went  a  voice  from  the  crowd  shouted,  — 

"  Eoman  citizens,  Macer.  are  long  since  dead.  'T  is  a 
vain  appeal. " 

"  I  believe  you, "  replied  Macer ;  "  tyrant  and  slave  stand 
now  for  all  who  once  bore  the  proud  name  of  Eoman.  " 

This  violence  and  injustice  on  the  part  of  Varus  must  be 
traced  —  for  though  capricious  and  imperious,  this  is  not 
his  character  —  to  the  language  of  Macer  in  the  shop  of 
Publius,  and  to  his  apprehension  lest  the  same  references 
to  his  origin,  which  he  would  willingly  have  forgotten, 
should  be  made,  and  perhaps  more  offensively  still,  in  the 
presence  of  the  people.  Probus,  on  the  former  occasion, 
lamented  deeply  that  Macer  should  have  been  tempted  to 
rehearse  in  the  way  he  did  some  of  the  circumstances  of 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  189 

the  prefect's  history,  as  its  only  end  could  be  needlessly  to 
irritate  the  man  of  power,  and  raise  up  a  bitterer  enemy 
than  we  might  otherwise  have  found  in  him. 

Upon  leaving  the  tribunal,  I  was  curious  to  watch  still 
farther  the  movements  of  the  Christian.  The  crowd  about 
him  increased  rather  than  diminished  as  he  left  the  build 
ing  and  passed  into  the  street.  At  but  a  little  distance 
from  the  hall  of  the  prefect  stands  the  Temple  of  Peace, 
with  its  broad  and  lofty  flights  of  steps.  When  Macer  had 
reached  it,  he  paused  and  looked  round  upon  the  motley 
crowd  that  had  gathered  about  him. 

"  Go  up !  go  up ! "  cried  several  voices  ;  "we  will  hear  thee. " 

"  There  is  no  prefect  here, "  cried  another. 

Macer  needed  no  urging,  but  quickly  strode  up  the  steps, 
till  he  stood  between  the  central  columns  of  the  temple,  and 
his  audience  had  disposed  themselves  below  him  in  every 
direction,  when  he  turned  and  gazed  upon  the  assembled 
people,  who  had  now,  by  the  addition  of  such  as  passed 
along,  and  who  had  no  more  urgent  business  than  to  attend 
to  that  of  any  others  whom  they  might  chance  to  meet, 
grown  to  a  multitude.  After  looking  upon  them  for  the 
space  of  a  minute,  as  if  studying  their  characters,  and  how 
he  could  best  adapt  his  discourse  to  their  occasions,  he  sud 
denly  and  abruptly  broke  out,  — • 

"  You  have  asked  me  to  come  up  here,  and  I  am  here,  — 
glad  for  once  to  be  in  such  a  place  by  invitation.  And 
now  I  am  here,  and  am  about  to  speak  to  you,  you  will 
expect  me  to  say  something  of  the  Christians. " 

"  Yes,  yes  !  " 

"But  I  shall  not  —  not  yet.  Perhaps  by  and  by.  In 
the  mean  time  my  theme  shall  be  the  prefect,  the  prefect 
Varus !  " 

"  A  subject  full  of  matter, "  cried  one  near  Macer. 

"  Better  send  for  him,"  said  another.  "  'Twere  a  pity 
he  lost  it." 

"  Yes, "  continued  Macer,  "  it  is  a  subject  full  of  matter, 
and  I  wish  myself  he  were  here  to  see  himself  in  the  mirror 
I  would  hold  before  him ;  he  could  not  but  grow  pale  with 


190  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

affright.  You  have  just  had  a  sample  of  Roman  justice. 
How  do  you  like  it,  Eomans  ?  I  had  gone  there  to  seek 
justice,  not  for  a  Christian,  but  against  a  Christian.  A 
Christian  master  had  abused  his  slave  with  cruelty,  I  stand 
ing  by ;  and  when  to  my  remonstrance  —  myself  feeling  the 
bitter  stripes  he  laid  on  —  he  did  but  ply  his  thongs  the 
more,  I  seized  the  hardened  monster  by  the  neck,  and 
wrenching  from  his  grasp  the  lash,  I  first  plied  it  upon  his 
own  back,  and  then  dragged  him  to  the  judgment-seat  of 
Varus  —  " 

"  Oh,  fool !  " 

"You  say  well, — fool  that  I  was,  crying  for  justice! 
How  I  was  dealt  with,  some  of  you  have  seen.  There,  I 
say,  was  a  sample  of  Roman  justice  for  you !  So  in  these 
times  does  power  sport  itself  with  poverty.  It  was  not  so 
once  in  Rome.  Were  Cincinnatus  or  Regulus  at  the  tribu 
nal  of  Yarus,  they  would  fare  like  the  soldier  Macer.  And 
who,  Romans,  is  this  Yarus  ?  and  why  is  he  here  in  the 
seat  of  authority  ?  At  the  tribunal,  Yarus  did  not  know  me. 
But  what  if  I  were  to  tell  you  there  was  but  a  thin  wall 
between  the  rooms  where  we  were  born,  and  that  when  \ve 
were  boys  we  were  ever  at  the  same  school  ?  —  not  such 
schools  as  you  are  thinking  of,  where  the  young  go  for 
letters  and  for  Greek,  but  the  school  where  many  of 
you  have  been  and  are  now,  I  dare  say,  —  the  school  of 
Roman  vice,  which  you  may  find  always  open  all  along  the 
streets,  but  especially  where  I  and  Yarus  were,  in  one  of 
the  sinks  near  the  Flavian.  Pollex  the  gladiator  was  father 
of  Yarus, — not  worse,  but  just  as  bad,  as  savage,  as 
beastly  in  his  vices,  as  are  all  of  that  butcher  tribe.  My 
father  —  Macer,  too  —  I  will  not  say  more  of  him  than  that 
he  was  keeper  of  the  vivaria  of  the  amphitheatre,  and 
passed  his  days  in  caging  and  uncaging  the  wild  beasts  of 
Asia  and  Africa ;  in  feeding  them  when  there  were  no  games 
on  foot,  and  starving  them  when  there  were.  Yarus  the 
prefect,  Romans,  and  I  were  at  this  school  till  I  joined  the 
legions  under  Yalerian,  and  he,  by  a  luckier  fortune,  as 
it  would  be  deemed,  found  favour  in  the  eyes  of  Gallienus, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  191 

to  whom,  with  his  fair  sister  Fannia,  he  was  sold  by  those 
demons,  Pollex  and  Csecina.  I  say  nothing  of  how  it  fared 
with  him  in  that  keeping.  Fannia  has  long  since  found 
the  grave.  Is  Varus  one  who  should  sit  at  the  head  of 
Kome  ?  He  is  a  man  of  blood,  of  crime,  of  vice  such  as 
you  would  not  bear  to  be  told  of !  I  say  not  this  as  if  he 
were  answerable  for  his  birth  and  early  vice ;  but  that, 
being  such,  this  is  not  his  place.  He  could  not  help  it, 
nor  I,  that  we  were  born  and  nurtured  where  we  were ; 
that  the  sight  of  blood  and  the  smell  of  it,  either  of  men  or 
beasts,  was  never  out  of  our  eyes  and  nostrils,  during  all 
our  boyhood  and  youth ;  that  to  him  and  me  the  sweetest 
pleasure  of  our  young  life  was  when  the  games  came  on, 
and  the  beasts  were  let  loose  upon  one  another;  and,  oh, 
the  hardening  of  that  life  !  when  especially  there  were  pris 
oners  or  captives  on  which  to  glut  their  raging  hunger ! 
Those  were  the  days  and  hours  marked  whitest  in  our  cal 
endar.  And  whitest  of  all  were  the  days  of  the  Decian 
persecution,  when  the  blood  of  thrice-cursed  Christians,  as 
I  was  taught  to  name  them,  flowed  like  water.  Every  day 
then  Varus  and  I  had  our  sport ;  working  up  the  beasts  by 
our  torments  to  an  unnatural  height  of  madness  ere  they 
were  let  loose,  and  then  rushing  to  the  grating  as  the  doors 
were  thrown  open,  to  see  the  fury  with  which  they  would 
spring  upon  their  defenceless  victims  and  tear  them  piece 
meal.  The  Eomans  required  such  servants,  and  we  were 
they.  They  require  them  now,  and  you  may  find  any 
number  of  such  about  the  theatres.  But  if  there  must  be 
such  there,  why  should  they  be  taken  thence  and  put  upon 
the  judgment-seat,  save  for  the  reason  that  they  may  have 
been  thoroughly  purged,  as  it  were,  by  fire  ?  —  which  Varus 
has  not.  What  with  him  was  necessary  and  forced  when 
young  is  now  chosen  and  voluntary.  Vice  is  now  his  by 
election.  Now,  I  ask,  why  has  the  life  of  Varus  been  such  ? 
and  why,  being  such,  is  he  here  ?  Because  you  are  so  !  Yes, 
because  you  are  all  like  him !  It  is  you,  Eoman  citizens, 
who  rear  the  theatres,  the  circuses,  and  the  thousand  tem 
ples  of  vice  which  crowd  the  streets  of  Rome  —  " 


192  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

"  No,  no !  it  is  the  emperors.  " 

"  But  who  made  the  emperors  ?  You  Eomans  of  these 
times  are  a  race  of  cowards  and  slaves,  and  it  is  therefore 
that  tyrants  rule  over  you.  Were  you  freemen,  with  the 
souls  of  freemen  in  you,  do  you  think  you  would  bear  as 
you  do  —  and  love  and  glory  in  the  yoke  —  this  rule  of  such 
creatures  as  Varus,  and  others  whom  it  were  not  hard  to 
name  ?  I  know  what  you  are,  for  I  have  been  one  of  you. 
I  have  not  been,  nor  am  I  now,  a  hermit,  as  you  may  think, 
being  a  Christian.  A  Christian  is  a  man  of  the  world, 
a  man  of  action  and  of  suffering,  not  of  rest  and  sleep.  I 
have  ever  been  abroad  among  men,  both  before  I  was  a 
Christian  and  since ;  and  I  know  what  you  are,  —  you  are 
of  the  same  stamp  as  Yarus !  Nay,  start  not,  nor  threaten 
with  your  eyes  ;  I  fear  you  not.  If  you  were  not  so,  why,  I 
say,  is  Varus  there  ?  You  know  that  I  speak  the  truth.  The 
people  of  Rome  are  corrupt  as  their  rulers.  How  should  it 
be  much  otherwise  ?  You  are  fed  by  the  largesses  of  the 
emperor ;  you  have  your  two  loaves  a  day  and  your  pork, 
and  you  need  not,  and  so  do  not,  work.  You  have  no  em 
ployment  but  idleness,  and  idleness  is  not  so  much  a  vice 
itself  as  the  prolific  mother  of  all  vices.  When  I  was  one 
of  you,  it  was  so ;  and  so  it  is  now.  My  father's  labour 
was  nothing ;  he  was  kept  by  the  state.  The  emperor  was 
not  more  a  man  of  pleasure  than  he,  nor  the  princes  than 
I  and  Varus.  Was  that  a  school  of  virtue  ?  When  I  left 
the  service  of  the  amphitheatre,  I  joined  the  legions.  In 
the  army  I  had  work  and  I  had  fighting ;  but  my  passions, 
in  the  early  days  of  that  service,  raged  like  the  sea ;  and 
during  all  the  reign  of  Valerian's  son  there  was  no  bridle 
upon  them,  for  I  served  under  the  general  Carinus ;  and 
what  Carinus  was  and  is,  most  of  you  know.  Oh,  the 
double  horrors  of  those  years !  I  was  older,  and  yet  worse 
and  worse.  God !  I  marvel  that  thou  didst  not  interpose 
and  strike  me  dead !  But  thy  mercy  spared  me  ;  and  now 
the  lowest,  lowest  hell  shall  not  be  mine !  "  Tears,  forced 
by  these  recollections,  flowed  down  his  cheeks,  and  for  a 
time  he  was  speechless. 


FROM  PISO  TO   FAUSTA.  193 

"  Such,  Romans,  was  I  once.  What  am  I  now  ?  I  am  a 
changed  man,  through  and  through.  There  is  not  a  thought 
of  my  mind,  nor  a  fibre  of  my  body,  what  they  were  once. 
You  may  possibly  think  the  change  has  been  for  the  worse, 
seeing  me  thus  thrust  forth  from  the  tribunal  of  the  prefect 
with  dishonour,  when  I  was  once  a  soldier  and  an  officer 
under  Aurelian.  I  would  rather  a  thousand  times  be  what 
I  am,  —  a  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  I  would  that,  by 
anything  I  could  do,  you,  any  one  of  you,  might  be  made 
to  think  so  too ;  I  would  that  Varus  might,  for  I  bear  him 
no  ill-will. 

"  But  what  am  I  now  ?  I  am  so  different  a  man  from 
what  I  once  was,  that  I  can  hardly  believe  myself  to  be 
the  same.  The  life  which  I  once  led  I  would  not  lead  again 

—  no,  not  one  day  or  hour  of  it  —  though  you  would  depose 
Aurelian  to-day  and  crown  me  Ca3sar  to-morrow.      I  would 
no  more  return  to  that  life  than  I  would  consent  to  lose  my 
nature  and  take  a  swine's,  and  find  elysium  where,  as  a 
man,  I  once  did,  in  sinks  and  sties.     I  would  not  renounce, 
for  the  wealth  of  all  the  world  and  its  empire  too,    that 
belief  in  the  faith  of  Christ,  the  head  of  the  Christians, 
which  has  wrought  so  within  me. 

"  And  what  has  made  me  so  would  make  you  so,  if  you 
would  but  hearken  to  it.  And  would  it  not  be  a  good  thing 
if  the  flood  of  vice  which  pours  all  through  the  streets  of 
Eome  were  stayed  ?  Would  it  not  be  a  happy  thing  if 
the  misery  which  dwells  beneath  these  vaulted  roofs,  and 
these  humbler  ones  equally,  the  misery  which  drunken 
ness  and  lust,  the  love  of  money,  and  the  love  of  place,  and 
every  evil  passion  generates,  were  all  wiped  away,  and  we 
all  lived  together  observant  of  the  rights  of  one  another,  — 
helping  one  another,  not  oppressing;  loving,  not  hating, 

—  showing  in  our  conduct  as  men  the  virtues  of  little  chil 
dren  ?     Would  it  not  be  happier  if  all  this  vast  population 
were  bound  together  by  some  common  ties  of  kindred ;  if 
all  held  all  as  brethren ;  if  the  poor  man  felt  himself  to  be 
the  same  as  Aurelian  himself,  because  he  is  a  man  like  him, 
and  weighs  just  as  much  as  he  in  the  scales  of  God,  and 

13 


194  LETTERS  FROM    ROME. 

that  it  is  the  vice  in  the  one  or  the  other,  and  that  only, 
that  sinks  him  lower  ?  Would  it  not  be  better  if  you  all 
could  see  in  the  presiding  Power  of  the  universe  one  great 
and  good  Being,  who  needs  not  to  be  propitiated  by  costly 
sacrifices  of  oxen  or  bulls,  nor  by  cruel  ones  of  men,  but  is 
always  kindly  disposed  towards  you,  and  desires  nothing 
so  much  as  to  see  you  living  virtuously  and  happily,  and  is 
never  grieved  but  when  he  sees  you  ruining  your  own  peace, 
not  harming  him,  by  your  vices  ?  —  for  you  will  bear  witness 
with  me  that  your  vices  are  never  a  cause  of  happiness. 
Would  it  not  be  better  if  you  could  behold  such  a  God  over 
you,  in  the  place  of  those  who  are  called  gods,  and  whom 
you  worship,  —  as  I  did  once,  because  I  feared  to  do  other 
wise,  —  and  yet  sin  on  nevertheless ;  who  are  your  patterns 
not  so  much  in  virtue  as  in  vice  ?  " 

"  Away  with  the  wicked !  away  with  the  fellow  !  "  cried 
several  voices ;  but  others  predominated,  saying,  "  Let 
him  alone  !  "  "  He  speaks  well !  We  will  hear  him  !  " 
"We  will  defend  him!  —  go  on,  go  on!" 

"  I  have  little  or  nothing  more  to  say, "  continued  Macer. 
"  I  will  only  ask  you  whether  you  must  not  judge  that  to  be 
a  very  powerful  principle  of  some  kind  that  drew  me  up  out 
of  that  foul  pit  into  which  I  was  fallen,  and  made  me  what 
I  am  nowk?  Which  of  you  now  feels  that  he  has  motive 
strong  enough  to  work  out  such  a  deliverance  for  himself  ? 
What  help  in  this  way  do  you  receive  from  your  priests,  if 
perchance  you  ever  apply  to  them  ?  What  book  of  instruc 
tions  concerning  the  will  of  the  gods  have  you  to  which 
you  can  go  at  any  time,  and  at  all  times  ?  Only  believe  as 
I  do,  Eomans,  and  you  will  hate  sin  as  I  do.  You  cannot 
help  it.  Believe  in  the  God  that  I  do,  and  in  the  Eevealer 
of  his  will,  the  Teacher  whom  he  sent  into  the  world  to 
save  us  from  our  heathen  errors  and  vices,  and  you  will  then 
be  more  than  the  Romans  you  once  were.  You  are  now, 
and  you  know  it,  infinitely  less.  Then  you  will  be  what 
the  old  Romans  were,  and  more.  You  will  be  as  brave  as 
they,  and  more  just.  You  will  be  as  generous,  and  more 
gentle.  You  will  love  your  own  country  as  well,  but  you 


FROM  PISO  TO   FAUSTA.  195 

will  love  others  too.  You  will  be  more  ready  to  offer  up 
your  lives  for  your  country,  for  it  will  be  better  worth 
dying  for;  every  citizen  will  be  a  brother,  every  ruler  a 
brother ;  it  will  be  like  dying  for  your  own  little  house 
hold.  If  you  would  see  Eome  flourish,  she  must  become 
more  pure.  She  can  stagger  along  not  much  longer  under 
this  mountain-weight  of  iniquity  that  presses  her  into  the 
dust.  She  needs  a  new  Hercules  to  cleanse  her  foul  cham 
bers.  Christ  is  he;  and  if  you  will  invite  him,  he  will 
come  and  sweep  away  these  abominations,  so  that  imperial 
Eome  shall  smell  fragrantly  as  a  garden  of  spices.  " 

Loud  exclamations  of  approval  here  interrupted  Macer. 
The  great  proportion  of  those  who  were  present  were  now 
evidently  with  him,  and  interested  in  his  communications. 

"  Tell  us, "  cried  one,  as  soon  as  the  noise  subsided,  "  how 
you  became  what  you  are.  What  is  to  be  done  ?  " 

"  Yes, "  cried  many  voices,  "  tell  us !  " 

"  I  will  tell  you  gladly, "  answered  Macer.  "  I  first 
heard  the  word  of  truth  from  the  lips  of  Probus,  a  preacher 
of  the  Christians,  whom  you,  too,  may  hear  whenever  you 
will,  by  seeking  him  out  on  the  days  when  the  Christians 
worship.  Probus  was  in  early  life  a  priest  of  the  Temple 
of  Jupiter,  and  if  any  man  in  Eome  can  place  the  two  re 
ligions  side  by  side,  and  make  the  differences  plain,  it  is 
he.  Go  to  him,  such  of  you  as  can,  and  you  will  never 
repent  it.  But  if  you  would  all  learn  the  first  step  toward 
Christian  truth,  and  all  truth,  it  is  this :  lay  aside  your 
prejudices,  be  willing  to  bear,  see,  hear,  and  judge  for 
yourselves.  Take  not  rumour  for  truth.  Do  not  believe 
without  evidence  both  for  and  against.  You  would  not, 
without  evidence  and  reason,  charge  Aurelian  with  the 
death  of  Aurelia,  though  ten  thousand  tongues  report  it. 
Charge  not  the  Christians  with  worse  things,  then,  merely 
because  the  wicked  and  ill-disposed  maliciously  invent 
them  and  spread  them.  If  you  would  know  the  whole 
truth  and  doctrine  of  Christians,  if  you  would  ascend  to 
the  fountain-head  of  all  Christian  wisdom,  take  to  your 
homes  our  sacred  books,  and  read  them.  Some  of  you,  at 


196  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

least,  can  obtain  them.  Let  one  purchase,  and  then  twenty 
or  fifty  read.  One  thing  before  I  cease.  Believe  not  the 
wicked  aspersions  of  the  prefect.  He  charges  me  as  a 
brawler,  a  disturber  of  the  peace  and  order  of  the  city. 
Eomans,  believe  me,  I  am  a  lover  of  peace,  but  I  am  a 
lover  of  freedom  too.  Because  I  am  a  lover  of  peace,  and 
would  promote  it,  do  I  labour  to  teach  the  doctrines  of 
Christ,  which  are  doctrines  of  peace  and  love,  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  in  the  city  and  throughout  the  world ;  and 
because  I  am  the  friend  of  freedom,  do  I  open  my  mouth  at 
all  times  and  in  every  place,  wherever  I  can  find  those  who, 
like  you,  are  ready  to  hear  the  words  of  salvation.  When 
in  Eome  I  can  no  longer  speak,  no  longer  speak  for  the  cause 
of  what  I  deem  truth,  then  will  I  no  longer  be  a  Eoman. 
Then  will  I  that  day  renounce  my  name  and  my  country. 
Thanks  to  Aurelian,  he  has  never  chained  up  the  tongue. 
I  have  fought  and  bled  under  him,  and  never  was  there  a 
braver  man,  or  one  who  honoured  courage  more  in  others. 
I  do  not  believe  he  will  ever  do  so  cowardly  a  thing  as  to 
restrain  the  freedom  of  men's  speech.  Aurelian  is  some 
things,  but  he  is  not  others.  He  is  severe  and  cruel,  but 
not  mean.  Cut  Aurelian  in  two,  and  throw  the  worse  half 
away,  and  the  other  is  as  royal  a  man  as  ever  the  world 
saw. 

"  One  thing  more,  good  friends  and  citizens :  If  I  am 
sometimes  carried  away  by  my  passions  to  do  that  which 
seems  a  disturbance  of  the  common  order,  say  that  it  is 
the  soldier  Macer  that  does  it,  not  his  Christian  zeal,  — his 
human  passions,  not  his  new-adopted  faith.  It  is  not  at 
once  and  perfectly  that  a  man  passes  from  one  life  to  an 
other  ;  puts  off  one  nature  and  takes  another.  Much  that 
belonged  to  Macer  of  the  amphitheatre  and  Macer  the  sol 
dier  cleaves  to  him  now.  But  make  not  his  religion 
amenable  for  that.  You  who  would  see  the  law  of  Christ 
written,  not  only  on  a  book,  but  in  the  character  and  life 
of  a  living  man,  go  read  the  Christian  Probus.  " 

As  he  said  these  words  he  began  to  descend  the  steps  of 
the  temple ;  but  many  crowded  round  him,  assailing  him 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  197 

some  with  reproaches,  and  others  with  inquiries  put  by 
those  who  seemed  anxious  to  know  the  truth.  The  voices 
of  his  opponents  were  most  violent,  and  prevailed,  and 
made  me  apprehensive  that  they  would  proceed  to  greater 
length  than  speech.  But  Macer  stood  firm,  nothing  daunted 
by  the  uproar.  One,  who  signalized  himself  by  the  loud- 
ness  and  fierceness  of  his  cries,  exclaimed  "  that  he  was 
nothing  else  than  an  atheist,  like  all  the  rest  of  the  Chris 
tians  ;  they  have  no  gods  ;  they  deny  the  gods  of  Kome,  and 
they  give  us  nothing  in  their  stead. " 

"  We  deny  the  gods  of  Eome,  I  know, "  replied  Macer, 
"  and  who  would  not  who  had  come  to  years  of  discretion  ? 
—  who  had  so  much  as  left  his  nurse's  lap?  A  fouler 
brotherhood  than  they,  the  lords  of  heaven,  Eome  does  not 
contain.  Am  I  to  be  called  upon  to  worship  a  set  of 
wretches  chargeable  with  all  the  crimes  and  vices  to  be 
found  on  earth.  It  is  this  accursed  idolatry,  0  Eomans, 
that  has  sunk  you  so  low  in  sin!  They  are  your  lewd, 
and  drunken,  and  savage  deities  who  have  taught  you  all 
your  refinement  in  wickedness  ;  and  never  till  you  renounce 
them,  never  till  you  repent  you  of  your  iniquities,  never 
till  you  turn  and  worship  the  true  God,  will  you  rise  out 
of  the  black  Tartarean  slough  in  which  you  are  lying. 
These  two  hundred  years  and  more  has  God  called  to  you 
by  his  Son,  and  you  have  turned  away  your  ears ;  you  have 
hardened  your  hearts ;  the  prophets  who  have  come  to  you 
in  his  name  have  you  slain  by  the  sword,  or  hung  upon 
the  accursed  tree.  Awake  out  of  your  slumbers !  These 
are  the  last  days.  God  will  not  forbear  forever.  The 
days  of  vengeance  will  come ;  they  are  now  at  hand :  I 
can  hear  the  rushing  of  that  red  right  arm,  hot  with 
wrath  —  " 

"  Away  with  him !  away  with  him !  "  broke  from  a  hun 
dred  voices.  "  Down  with  the  blasphemer !  *  "  Who  is 
he,  to  speak  thus  of  the  gods  of  Eome  ?  "  "  Seize  the  im 
pious  Galilean,  and  away  with  him  to  the  prefect !  " 
These,  and  a  thousand  exclamations  of  the  same  kind,  and 
more  savage,  were  heard  on  every  side ;  and  at  the  same 


198  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

moment  their  denial  and  counter-exclamations  from  as 
many  more. 

"  He  has  spoken  the  truth !  "  "  He  is  a  brave  fellow !  " 
"  He  shall  not  be  touched,  except  we  fall  first !  "  came  from 
a  resolute  band,  who  encompassed  the  preacher  and  seemed 
resolved  to  make  good  their  words  by  defending  him  against 
whatever  assault  might  be  made.  Macer,  himself  a  host 
in  such  an  affray,  neither  spoke  nor  moved,  standing  upright 
and  still  as  a  statue ;  but  any  one  might  see  the  soldier  in 
his  kindling  eye,  and  that  a  slight  cause  would  bring  him 
upon  the  assailants  with  a  fury  that  would  deal  out  wounds 
and  death.  He  had  told  them  that  the  old  legionary  was 
not  quite  dead  within  him,  and  sometimes  usurped  the 
place  of  the  Christian ;  this  they  seemed  to  remember,  and 
after  showering  upon  him  vituperation  and  abuse  in  every 
form,  one  after  another  they  withdrew,  and  left  him  with 
those  who  had  gathered  immediately  around  him.  These, 
too,  soon  took  their  leave  of  him,  and  Macer,  unimpeded 
and  alone,  turned  towards  his  home. 

When  I  related  to  Probus  afterwards  what  I  had  heard 
and  witnessed,  he  said  that  I  was  fortunate  in  hearing  what 
was  so  much  more  sober  and  calm  than  what  usually  fell 
from  him ;  that  generally  he  devoted  himself  to  an  exposi 
tion  of  the  absurdities  of  the  heathen  worship,  and  the 
abominations  of  the  mysteries,  and  the  vices  of  the  priest 
hood ;  and  he  rarely  ended  without  filling  with  rage  a 
great  proportion  of  those  who  heard  him.  Many  a  time  had 
he  been  assaulted,  and  hardly  had  escaped  with  his  life. 
You  will  easily  perceive,  Fausta,  how  serious  an  injury  is 
inflicted  upon  us  by  rash  and  violent  declaimers  like  Macer. 
There  are  others  like  him  ;  he  is  by  no  means  alone,  though 
he  is  by  far  the  most  conspicuous.  Together  they  help  to 
kindle  the  flame  of  active  hostility,  and  infuse  fresh  bitter 
ness  into  the  pagan  heart.  Should  the  emperor  carry  into 
effect  the  purposes  now  ascribed  to  him,  these  men  will 
be  sure  victims,  and  the  first. 

Upon  my  return,  after  hearing  Macer,  I  found  Livia 
seated  with  Julia,  to  whom  she  often  comes  thus,  and  then 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  199 

together,  I  often  accompanying,  they  visit  Tibur.  She  had 
but  just  arrived.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  the  lighthearted- 
ness  which  so  manifested  itself  always  in  her  beaming 
countenance  and  the  elastic  step,  was  gone ;  the  usual  signs 
of  it,  at  least,  were  not  visible.  Her  whole  expression  was 
serious  and  anxious ;  and  upon  her  face  were  the  traces  of 
recent  grief.  For  a  long  time,  after  the  first  salutations 
and  inquiries  were  through,  neither  spoke.  At  length 
Livia  said,  — 

"  I  am  come  now,  Julia,  to  escape  from  what  has  become 
of  late  little  other  than  a  prison.  The  Fabrician  dungeons 
are  not  more  gloomy  than  the  gardens  of  Sallust  are  now. 
No  more  gayety ;  no  feasting  by  day  and  carousal  by  night ; 
the  gardens  never  illuminated ;  no  dancing  or  music.  It  is 
a  new  life  for  me ;  and  then  the  only  creatures  to  be  seen, 
that  hideous  Fronto  and  the  smiling  Varus ;  men  very 
well  in  their  place,  but  no  inmates  of  palaces. " 

"  Well, "  said  Julia,  "  there  is  the  greater  reason  why  we 
should  see  more  of  each  other  and  of  Zenobia.  Aurelian  is 
the  same  ?  " 

"  The  same  ?  There  is  the  same  form,  and  the  same  face, 
and  the  same  voice ;  but  the  form  is  motionless,  save  when 
at  the  hippodrome,  the  face  black  as  Styx,  and  his  voice 
rougher  than  the  raven's.  That  agreeable  humour  and 
sportiveness  which  seem  native  to  him,  though  by  reason 
of  his  thousand  cares  not  often  seen,  is  now  wholly  gone. 
He  is  observant  as  ever  of  all  the  forms  of  courtesy,  and  I 
am  to  him  what  I  have  ever  been ;  but  a  dark  cloud  has 
settled  over  him  and  all  the  house,  and  I  would  willingly 
escape  if  I  could.  And  worse  than  all  is  this  of  Aurelia ! 
Alas,  poor  girl !  " 

"  And  what,  Livia,  is  the  truth  ?  "  said  Julia ;  "  the  city 
is  filled  with  rumours,  but  they  are  so  at  variance  no  one 
knows  which  to  believe,  or  whether  none.  " 

"  I  hardly  know  myself, "  replied  Livia.  "  All  I  know 
with  certainty  is  that  I  have  lost  my  only  companion,  —  or 
the  only  one  I  cared  for,  — and  that  Aurelian  merely  says 
she  has  been  sent  to  the  prisons  at  the  Fabrician  bridge. 


200  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

I  cannot  tell  you  of  our  parting.  Aurelia  was  sure  some 
thing  terrible  was  designed  against  her,  from  the  sharpness 
and  violence  of  her  uncle's  language ;  and  she  left  me  as 
if  she  were  never  to  see  me  again.  But  I  would  believe  no 
such  thing ;  and  so  I  told  her,  and  tried  to  give  to  her  some 
of  the  courage  and  cheerfulness  which  I  pretended  to  have 
myself ;  but  it  was  to  no  purpose.  She  departed  weeping, 
as  if  her  heart  were  broken.  I  love  her  greatly,  notwith 
standing  her  usual  air  of  melancholy,  and  her  preference  of 
solitude ;  and  I  have  found  in  her,  as  you  know,  my  best 
friend  and  companion.  Yet,  I  confess,  there  is  that  in  her 
which  I  never  understood,  and  do  not  now  understand.  I 
hope  she  will  comply  with  the  wishes  of  Aurelian,  and  that 
I  shall  soon  see  her  again.  The  difficulty  is  all  owing  to 
this  new  religion.  I  wish,  Julia,  there  were  no  such  thing. 
It  seems  to  me  to  do  nothing  but  sow  discord  and  violence.  " 

"  That,  dear  Li  via,  "  said  Julia,  "  is  not  a  very  wise  wish  ; 
especially  seeing  you  know,  as  you  will  yourself  confess,  so 
little  about  it. " 

"  But,  "  quickly  added  Livia,  "  was  it  not  better  as  it  was 
at  Palmyra?  —  who  heard  then  of  these  bitter  hostilities? 
who  were  there  troubled  about  their  worship  ?  One  hardly 
knew  there  was  such  a  thing  as  a  Christian.  When  Paul 
was  at  the  palace  it  was  still  all  the  same ;  only,  if  any 
thing,  a  little  more  agreeable.  But  here,  no  one  at  the 
gardens  speaks  of  Christians  but  with  an  assassin  air  that 
frightens  one.  There  must  surely  be  more  evil  in  them 
than  I  ever  dreamt  of.  " 

"  The  evil,  Livia, "  answered  her  sister,  "  comes  not  from 
the  Christians,  nor  Christianity,  but  from  those  who  oppose 
them.  There  were  always  Christians  in  Palmyra,  and,  as 
you  say,  even  in  the  palace,  yet  there  was  always  peace  and 
good-will  too.  If  Christianity  were  in  itself  an  element  of 
discord  and  division,  why  were  no  such  effects  seen  there  ? 
The  truth  is,  Livia,  the  division  and  discord  are  created, 
not  by  the  new  religion,  but  by  those  who  resist  it  and 
will  not  suffer  people  to  act  and  think  as  they  please  about 
it.  Under  Zenobia  all  had  free  liberty  to  believe  as  they 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  201 

would.  And  there  was  under  her  the  reign  of  universal 
peace  and  good-will.  Here,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has  been 
the  practice  of  the  state  to  interfere  and  say  what  the  citi 
zens  shall  believe,  and  whom  they  shall  worship,  and  what 
and  whom  they  shall  not.  How  should  it  be  otherwise 
than  that  troubles  should  spring  up,  under  legislation  so 
absurd  and  so  wicked  ?  Would  it  not  be  a  certain  way  to 
introduce  confusion,  if  the  state  or  Aurelian  should  pre 
scribe  our  food  and  drink,  or  our  dress  ?  And  if  confusion 
did  arise,  and  bitter  opposition,  you  could  not  justly  say  it 
was  owing  to  the  existence  of  certain  kinds  of  food  or  of 
clothes  which  people  fancied,  but  to  their  being  interfered 
with.  Let  them  alone,  and  they  will  please  themselves 
and  be  at  peace. " 

"  Yes, "  said  Livia ;  "  that  may  be.  But  the  common 
people  are  in  no  way  fit  judges  in  such  things  ;  and  it  seems 
to  me  if  either  party  must  give  way,  it  were  better  the 
people  did.  The  government  has  the  power,  and  they  will 
use  it. " 

"  In  so  indifferent  a  matter  as  food  or  dress, "  rejioined  the 
sister,  "  if  a  government  were  so  foolish  as  to  make  pro 
hibitory  and  whimsical  laws,  it  were  better  to  yield  than 
contend.  But  in  an  affair  so  different  from  that  as  one's 
religion,  one  could  not  act  in  the  same  way.  I  may  dress 
in  one  kind  of  stuff  as  well  as  another ;  it  is  quite  a  possi 
ble  thing;  but  is  it  not  plainly  impossible,  if  I  think  one 
kind  of  stuff  is  of  an  exquisitive  fineness  and  colour,  for 
me  to  believe  and  say  at  the  same  time  that  its  texture  is 
coarse  and  its  hue  dull  ?  The  mind  cannot  believe  accord 
ing  to  any  other  laws  than  those  of  its  own  constitution. 
Is  it  not,  then,  the  height  of  wickedness  to  set  out  to  make 
people  believe  and  act  one  way  in  religion  ?  The  history  of 
the  world  has  shown  that,  in  spite  of  men's  wickedness, 
there  is  nothing  on  earth  they  value  as  they  do  their  re 
ligion.  They  will  die  rather  than  change  or  renounce  it. 
Men  are  the  same  now.  To  require  that  any  portion  of  the 
people  shall  renounce  their  religion  is  to  require  them  to 
part  with  that  which  they  value  most,  —  more  than  life 


202  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

itself ;  and  is  it  not  in  effect  pronouncing  against  them  a 
sentence  of  destruction  ?  Some,  indeed,  will  relinquish  it 
rather  than  die;  and  some  will  play  the  hypocrite  for  a 
season  intending  to  return  to  the  profession  of  it  in  more 
peaceful  times.  But  most,  and  the  best,  will  die  before 
they  will  disown  their  faith.  " 

"  Then,  if  that  is  so, "  said  Livia,  "  and  I  confess  what 
you  say  cannot  be  denied,  I  would  that  Aurelian  could  be 
prevailed  upon  to  recede  from  a  position  which  he  seems  to 
be  taking.  His  whole  nature  now  seems  to  have  been  set 
on  fire  by  this  priest  Fronto.  Superstition  has  wholly 
seized  and  possessed  him.  His  belief  is  that  Eome  can 
never  be  secure  and  great  till  the  enemies  of  the  gods,  as 
well  as  of  the  state,  shall  perish  ;  and  pushed  on  by  Fronto, 
he  appears,  so  far  as  can  be  gathered  from  their  discourse, 
to  be  bent  on  their  destruction.  I  wish  he  could  be 
changed  back  again  to  what  he  was  before  this  notion 
seized  him.  Piso,  have  you  seen  him,  — have  you  of  late 
conversed  with  him  ?  " 

"  Only>  Livia,  briefly ;  and  on  this  topic  only  at  intervals 
of  other  talk  ;  for  he  avoids  it,  at  least  with  me.  But  from 
what  we  all  know  of  Aurelian,  it  is  not  one's  opinion  nor 
another's  that  can  alter  his  will  when  once  bent  one  way.  " 

"  How  little  did  I  once  deem, "  said  Livia,  "  when  I  used 
to  wish  so  for  greatness  and  empire,  that  they  could  be  so 
darkened  over.  I  thought  that  to  be  great  was  necessarily 
to  be  happy.  But  I  was  but  a  child  then !  " 

"  How  long  since  was  that  ?  "  asked  Julia,  smiling. 

"  Ah !  you  would  say  I  am  little  better  than  that  now.  " 

"  You  are  young  yet,  Livia,  for  much  wisdom  to  have 
come ;  and  you  must  not  wonder  if  it  come  slowly,  for  you 
are  unfortunately  placed  to  gain  it.  An  idol  on  its  pedestal 
can  rarely  have  but  two  thoughts,  —  that  it  is  an  idol,  and 
that  it  is  worshipped.  The  entrance  of  all  other  wisdom  is 
quite  shut  out.  " 

"  How  pleasant  a  thing  it  is,  Piso,  to  have  an  elder  sister 
as  wise  as  Julia !  But  come,  will  you  to  Tibur  ?  I  must 
have  Faustula,  now  that  I  have  lost  Aurelia. " 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  203 

"  Oh  no,  Livia, "  said  Julia ;  "  take  her  not  away  from 
Zenobia.  She  can  ill  spare  her. " 

"  But  there  is  Vabalathus.  " 

"  Yes,  but  he  is  now  little  there.  He  is,  moreover,  pre 
paring  for  his  voyage.  Faustula  is  her  all.  " 

"  Ah,  then,  it  cannot  be !  It  were  very  wrong,  I  see. 
Then  I  see  not  but  I  must  go  to  her,  or  come  and  live  with 
you.  Only  think  of  one's  trying  to  escape  from  the  crown 
of  Koine !  I  can  hardly  believe  I  am  Livia,  once  never  to 
be  satisfied  with  power  and  greatness,  now  tired  of  them ! 
No,  not  that  exactly  —  " 

"  You  are  tired  only,  Livia,  of  some  little  attendant 
troubles;  you  like  not  that  overhanging  cloud  you  just 
spoke  of ;  but  for  the  empire  itself,  you  love  that  none  the 
less.  To  believe  that,  it  is  enough  to  see  you.  " 

"  I  suppose  you  are  right.     Julia  is  always  right,  Piso.  " 

So  our  talk  ran  on  —  sometimes  into  graver,  and  then 
into  lighter  themes ;  often  stopping  and  lingering  long  over 
you,  and  Calpurnius,  and  Gracchus.  You  wished  to  know 
more  of  Livia  and  her  thoughts,  and  I  have  given  her  to 
you  in  just  the  mood  in  which  she  happened  to  be. 

The  wife  of  Macer  has  just  been  here,  seeking  from  Julia 
both  assistance  and  comfort.  She  implores  us  to  do  what 
we  may  to  calm  and  sober  her  husband. 

"  As  the  prospect  of  danger  increases, "  she  said  to  Julia, 
"  he  grows  but  the  more  impetuous  and  ungovernable.  He 
is  abroad  all  the  day,  and  every  day,  preaching  all  over 
Eome,  and  brings  home  nothing  for  the  support  of  the 
family ;  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  emperor's  bounty  we 
should  starve. " 

"  And  does  that  support  you  ?  " 

"  Oh  no,  lady !  it  hardly  gives  us  food  enough  to  subsist 
upon.  Then  we  have,  besides,  to  pay  for  our  lodging  and 
our  clothes.  But  I  should  mind  not  at  all  our  labour  or 
our  poverty,  did  I  not  hear  from  so  many  that  my  husband 
is  so  wild  and  violent  in  his  preaching,  and  when  he  dis 
putes  with  the  gentiles,  as  he  will  call  them.  I  am  sure 
it  is  a  good  cause  to  suffer  in,  if  one  must  suffer ;  but  if  our 


204  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

dear  Macer  would  only  work  half  the  time,  there  would  be 
no  occasion  to  suffer,  which  we  should  now  were  it  not  for 
Demetrius  the  jeweller,  who  lives  hard  by,  and  who  I  am 
sure  has  been  very  kind  to  us,  and  our  good  ^Elia. " 

"  You  do  not  then, "  I  asked,  "  blame  your  religion,  or 
are  weary  of  it  ?  " 

"  Oh,  sir,  surely  not.  It  is  our  greatest  comfort.  We 
all  look  out  with  expectation  of  our  greatest  pleasure  when 
Macer  returns  home  after  his  day's  labours;  and  labours 
they  surely  are,  and  will  destroy  him,  unless  he  is  per 
suaded  to  leave  them  off.  For  when  he  is  at  home  the 
children  all  come  round  him,  and  he  teaches  them,  in  his 
way,  what  religion  is.  Sometimes  it  is  a  long  story  he 
gives  them  of  his  life  when  he  was  a  little  boy  and  knew 
nothing  about  Christ,  and  what  wicked  things  he  did ;  and 
sometimes  about  his  serving  as  a  soldier  under  the  emperor. 
But  he  never  ends  without  showing  them  what  Christ's 
religion  tells  them  to  think  of  such  ways  of  life.  And 
then,  sir,  before  we  go  to  bed  he  reads  to  us  from  the  Gos 
pels,  —  which  he  bought  when  he  was  in  the  army,  and  was 
richer  than  he  is  now,  —  and  prays  for  us  all,  for  the  city, 
and  the  emperor,  and  the  gentiles.  So  that  we  want  almost 
nothing,  as  I  may  say,  to  make  us  quite  contented  and 
happy. " 

"  Have  you  ever  been  disturbed  in  your  dwelling  on 
Macer 's  account  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  sir,  and  we  are  always  fearing  it.  This  is  our 
great  trouble.  Once  the  house  was  attacked  by  the  people 
of  the  street,  and  almost  torn  down;  and  we  escaped,  I 
and  the  children,  through  a  back  way,  into  the  shop  of  the 
good  Demetrius.  There  we  were  safe,  and  while  we  were 
gone  our  little  cabin  was  entered,  and  everything  in  it 
broken  in  pieces.  Macer  was  not  at  home,  or  I  think  he 
would  have  been  killed.  " 

"  Did  you  apply  to  the  prefect  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,  I  do  not  believe  there  would  be  much  use  in 
that ;  they  say  he  hates  the  Christians  so.  " 

"  But  he  is  bound  to  preserve  order  in  the  city. " 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  205 

"  Yes,  sir;  but  for  a  great  man  like  him  it's  easy  to  see 
only  one  way,  and  to  move  so  slowly  that  it  does  no  good. 
That  is  what  our  people  say  of  him.  When  the  Christians 
are  in  trouble  he  never  comes,  if  he  comes  at  all,  till  it  is 
too  late  to  do  them  any  service.  The  best  way  for  us  is, 
I  think,  to  live  quietly,  and  not  needlessly  provoke  the 
gentiles,  nor  believe  that  we  can  make  Christians  of  them 
all  in  a  day.  That  is  my  husband's  dream.  He  thinks 
that  he  must  deliver  his  message  to  people  whether  they 
will  or  not,  and  it  almost  seems  as  if  the  more  hostile  they 
were,  the  more  he  made  it  his  duty  to  preach  to  them ; 
which  certainly  was  not  the  way  in  which  Christ  did,  as 
he  reads  his  history  to  us.  It  was  just  the  other  way.  It 
almost  makes  me  believe  that  some  demon  has  entered  into 
him,  he  is  so  different  from  what  he  was,  and  abroad  from 
what  he  is  at  home.  Do  you  think  that  likely,  sir  ?  I 
have  been  at  times  inclined  to  apply  to  Felix  to  see  if  he 
could  not  exorcise  him.  " 

"  No,  I  do  not  think  so,  certainly ;  but  many  may.  I 
believe  he  errs  in  his  notion  of  the  way  in  which  to  do 
good ;  but  under  some  circumstances  it  is  so  hard  to  tell 
which  the  best  way  is,  that  we  must  judge  charitably  of 
one  another.  Some  would  say  that  Macer  is  right ;  others 
that  the  course  of  Probus  is  wisest;  and  others  that  of 
Felix.  We  must  do  as  we  think  right,  and  leave  the  issue 
to  God.  " 

"  But  you  will  come  and  see  us  ?  We  dwell  near  the 
ruins  and  behind  the  shop  of  Demetrius.  Everybody 
knows  Demetrius.  " 

I  assured  her  I  would  go. 

I  almost  wish,  Fausta,  that  Julia  was  with  you.  All 
classes  seem  alike  exposed  to  danger.  But  I  suppose  it 
would  be  in  vain  to  propose  such  a  step  to  her,  especially 
after  what  she  said  to  Isaac.  You  now,  after  your  storm, 
live  at  length  in  calm ;  not  exactly  in  sunshine ;  for  you 
would  say  the  sun  never  can  seem  to  shine  that  falls  upon 
the  ruins  of  Palmyra.  But  calm  and  peace  you  certainly 
have,  and  they  are  much.  I  wish  Julia  could  enjoy  them 


206  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

with  you.  For  here,  every  hour,  so  it  now  seems  to  me, 
the  prospect  darkens,  and  it  will  be  enough  for  one  of  us  to 
remain  to  encounter  the  evil,  whatever  it  may  be,  and 
defend  the  faith  we  have  espoused.  This  is  an  office  more 
appropriate  to  man  than  to  woman ;  though  emergencies 
may  arise,  as  they  have,  when  woman  herself  must  forget 
her  tenderness  and  put  on  soldier's  panoply;  and  when  it 
has  come,  never  has  she  been  found  wanting.  Her  prompt 
ness  to  believe  that  which  is  good  and  pure  has  been 
equalled  by  her  fortitude  and  patience  in  suffering  for  it. 
You  will  soon  see  Vabalathus.  He  will  visit  you  before 
he  enters  upon  his  great  office.  By  him  I  shall  write  to 
you  soon  again.  Farewell. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  207 


LETTEK  VIII. 

FEOM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

THE    HOME   IN   THE  RUINS.  —  MACER'S   CHILDREN.  —  JELIA,   THE 
DANCING  GIRL.  —  PISO  AND  AURELIAN. 

MAECUS  and  Lucilia  are  inconsolable.  Their  grief,  I 
fear,  will  be  lasting  as  it  is  violent.  They  have  no 
resource  but  to  plunge  into  affairs,  and  drive  away  memory 
by  some  active  and  engrossing  occupation.  Yet  they  cannot 
always  live  abroad ;  they  must  at  times  return  to  themselves, 
and  join  the  company  of  their  own  thoughts.  And  then 
memory  is  not  to  be  put  off;  at  such  moments  this  faculty 
seems  to  constitute  the  mind  more  than  any  other.  It  be 
comes  in  a  manner  the  mind  itself.  The  past  rises  up  in 
spite  of  ourselves,  and  overshadows  the  present.  Whether 
its  scenes  have  been  prosperous  or  afflictive,  but  especially 
if  they  have  been  shameful,  do  they  present  themselves  with 
all  the  vividness  of  the  objects  before  us  and  the  passing 
hour,  and  minister  to  our  joy  or  increase  our  pains.  We  in 
vain  attempt  to  escape.  We  are  prisoners  in  the  hands  of 
a  giant.  To  forget  is  not  in  our  power.  The  will  is  impo 
tent.  The  effort  to  forget  is  often  but  an  effort  to  remem 
ber.  Fast  as  we  fly,  so  fast  the  enemy  of  our  peace  pursues. 
Memory  is  a  companion  who  never  leaves  us  —  or  never 
leaves  us  long.  It  is  the  true  Nemesis.  Tartarean  regions 
have  no  worse  woes,  nor  the  hell  of  Christians,  than  memory 
inflicts  upon  those  who  have  done  evil.  My  friends  struggle 
in  vain.  They  have  not  done  evil  indeed,  but  they  have 
suffered  it.  The  sorest  calamity  that  afflicts  mortals  has 
overtaken  them ;  their  choicest  jewel  has  been  torn  from 
them ;  and  they  can  no  more  drown  the  memory  of  their 
loss  than  they  can  take  that  faculty  itself  and  tear  it  from 


208  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

their  souls.  Comfort  cannot  come  from  that  quarter.  It 
can  come  only  from  being  re-possessed  of  that  which  has 
been  lost  hereafter,  and  from  enjoying  the  hope  of  that 
felicity  now.  See  how  Marcus  writes.  After  much  else, 
he  says,  — 

"  I  miss  you,  Piso,  and  the  conversations  which  we  had 
together.  I  know  not  how  it  is,  but  your  presence  acted 
as  a  restraint  upon  my  hot  and  impatient  temper.  Since 
your  departure  I  have  been  little  less  than  mad,  and  so  far 
from  being  of  service  to  Lucilia,  she  has  been  compelled 
to  moderate  her  own  grief  in  the  hope  to  assuage  mine.  1 
have  done  nothing  but  rave,  and  curse  my  evil  fortune. 
And  can  anything  else  be  looked  for  ?  How  should  a  man 
be  otherwise  than  exasperated  when  the  very  thing  he  loves 
best  in  the  wide  universe  is,  without  a  moment's  warning, 
snatched  away  from  him  ?  A  man  falls  into  a  passion  if 
his  seal  is  stolen,  or  his  rings,  or  his  jewels ;  if  his  dwel 
ling  burns  down,  or  his  slaves  run  away  or  die  by  some 
pestilence.  And  why  should  he  not  much  more  when  the 
providence  of  the  gods,  or  the  same  power,  whatever  it  may 
be,  that  gave  us  a  child,  tears  it  from  us  again,  —  and  just 
then  when  we  have  so  grown  into  it  that  it  is  like  hewing 
us  in  two  ?  I  can  believe  in  nothing  but  capricious  chance. 
We  live  by  chance,  and  so  we  die.  Such  events  are  other 
wise  inexplicable.  For  what  reason  can  by  the  most  in 
genious  be  assigned  for  giving  life  for  a  few  years  to  a 
being  like  Gallus,  and  who  then,  before  he  is  more  than 
just  past  the  threshold  of  life,  before  a  single  power  of  his 
nature  has  put  itself  forth,  but  at  the  moment  when  he  is 
bound  to  his  parents  by  ties  of  love  which  never  afterwards 
would  be  stronger,  is  struck  dead  ?  We  can  give  no  account 
of  it.  It  is  irreconcilable  with  the  hypothesis  of  an  in 
telligent  and  good  Providence.  It  has  all  the  features  of 
chance  upon  it.  A  god  could  not  have  done  it,  unless  he 
had  been  the  god  of  Tartarus.  Dark  Pluto  might,  or  the 
avenging  Furies,  were  they  supreme.  But  away  with  such 
dreams.  The  slaves,  who  were  his  proper  attendants,  have 
been  scourged  and  crucified.  That  at  first  gave  me  some 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  209 

relief;  but  already  I  repent  of  it.  So  it  is  with  me;  I 
rush  suddenly  upon  what  at  the  moment  I  think  right,  and 
then  as  suddenly  think  and  feel  that  I  have  done  wrong,  and 
so  suffer.  I  see  and  experience  nothing  but  suffering,  which 
ever  way  I  turn.  Truly  we  are  riddles.  Piso,  you  cannot 
conceive  of  my  loss.  It  was  our  only  child,  and  the  only 
one  we  shall  ever  know.  I  wish  that  I  believed  in  the 
gods,  that  I  might  curse  them.  " 

And  much  more  in  the  same  frantic  way.  Time  will 
blunt  his  grief ;  but  it  will  bring  him,  I  fear,  no  other  or 
better  comfort.  He  hopes  for  oblivion  of  his  loss ;  but 
that  can  never  be.  He  may  cease  to  grieve  as  he  grieves 
now ;  but  he  can  never  cease  to  remember.  I  trust  to  see 
him  again  ere  long,  and  turn  his  thoughts  into  a  better 
channel. 

I  did  not  forget  to  keep  my  promise  to  the  wife  of  Macer. 
In  truth,  I  had  long  regarded  it  as  essential  to  our  safety 
almost,  certainly  to  our  success,  that  this  man,  and  others 
of  the  same  character,  should  be  restrained  in  some  way  in 
their  course  of  mistaken  zeal ;  and  had  long  intended  to  use 
what  influence  to  that  end  I  might  possess.  Probus  had 
promised  to  accompany  me,  and  to  do  what  in  him  lay  to 
rescue  religion  from  this  peril  at  the  hands  of  one  of  her 
best  friends.  He  joined  me  towards  the  evening  of  the 
same  day  on  which  I  had  seen  the  wife  of  Macer,  and  we 
took  our  way  toward  his  dwelling. 

It  was  already  past  the  hour  of  twilight  when  we  reached 
the  part  of  the  city  where  Macer  dwells,  and  entered  the 
ruins  among  which  his  cabin  stands.  These  ruins  are  those 
of  extensive  and  magnificent  baths,  destroyed  a  long  time 
ago,  and  to  this  day  remaining  as  the  flames  left  them.  At 
the  rear  of  them,  far  from  the  street,  and  concealed  from  it 
by  arches  and  columns  and  fragments  of  wall,  we  were 
directed,  by  the  rays  of  a  single  light  streaming  from  a 
window,  to  the  place  we  sought.  We  wound  our  way 
among  these  fallen  or  still  standing  masses  of  stone,  and 
which  frequently  hid  from  us  the  object  of  our  search,  till, 
as  we  found  ourselves  near  the  spot,  we  were  arrested  by 

14 


210  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

the  sound  of  a  single  voice,  uttering  itself  with  vehemence, 
and  yet  solemnity.  We  paused,  but  could  not  distinguish 
the  words  used ;  but  the  same  conviction  possessed  us  as  to 
its  cause.  It  was  Macer  at  prayer.  We  moved  nearer,  so 
that  without  disturbing  the  family  we  might  still  make 
ourselves  of  the  number  of  hearers.  His  voice,  loud  and 
shrill,  echoed  among  the  ruins,  and  conveyed  to  us,  though 
at  some  distance,  every  word  that  he  uttered.  But  for  the 
noise  of  carriages  and  passengers  it  would  have  penetrated 
even  to  the  streets.  The  words  we  caught  were  such  as 
these :  — 

"  If  they  hear  thee  not,  O  Lord,  nor  reverence  thy  mes 
sengers,  but  deny  thee  and  turn  upon  those  whom  thou 
sendest  the  lip  of  scorn  and  the  eye  of  pride,  and  will  none 
of  their  teachings,  and  so  do  despite  to  the  spirit  of  thy 
grace,  and  crucify  the  Lord  afresh,  then  do  thou,  0  Lord, 
come  upon  them  as  once  upon  the  cities  of  the  plain  in  the 
times  of  thine  anger.  Let  fire  from  heaven  consume  them. 
Let  the  earth  yawn  and  swallow  them  up.  Tear  up  the 
foundations  of  this  modern  Babylon ;  level  to  the  earth  her 
proud  walls  ;  and  let  her  stand  for  a  reproach;  and  a  hissing, 
and  a  scorn,  through  all  generations ;  so  that  men  shall 
say,  as  they  pass  by,  '  Lo !  the  fate  of  them  that  held  to 
their  idols  rather  than  serve  the  living  God ;  their  proud 
palaces  are  now  dwellings  of  dragons,  and  over  her  ruins 
the  trees  of  the  forest  are  now  spreading  their  branches. ' 
But  yet,  0  Lord,  may  this  never  be;  but  may  a  way  of 
escape  be  made  for  them  through  thy  mercy.  And  to  this 
end  may  we,  thy  servants,  to  whom  thou  hast  given  the 
sword  of  the  Spirit,  gird  it  upon  our  sides,  lift  up  our  voice 
and  spare  not,  day  and  night,  morning  and  evening,  in  the 
public  place  and  at  the  corners  of  the  streets ;  in  all  places, 
and  in  every  presence,  proclaiming  the  good  news  of  salva 
tion.  Let  not  cowardice  seal  our  lips.  Whether  before 
gentile  or  Jew,  emperor  or  slave,  may  we  speak  as  becomes 
the  Lord's  anointed.  Warm  the  hearts  of  the  cold  and  dead  ; 
put  fire  into  them,  —  fire  from  thine  own  altar.  The  world, 
O  Lord,  and  its  honours  and  vanities,  seduce  thine  own 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  211 

servants  from  tliee.  They  are  afraid,  they  are  cold,  they  are 
dead,  and  the  enemy  lifts  himself  up  and  triumphs.  For 
this  we  would  mourn  and  lament.  Give  us,  O  Lord,  the 
courage  and  the  zeal  of  thine  early  apostles  and  teachers, 
so  that  no  fear  of  tortures  and  death  may  make  us  traitors 
to  Christ  and  thee.  " 

It  was  a  long  time  that  he  went  on  in  this  strain,  in 
veighing  with  heat  and  violence  against  all  who  withdrew 
their  hand  from  the  work,  or  abated  their  zeal.  When  he 
had  ceased,  and  we  stood  waiting  to  judge  whether  the 
service  were  wholly  ended,  the  voices  of  the  whole  family 
apparently  were  joined  together  in  a  hymn  of  praise,  - 
Macer's  now  more  gentle  and  subdued,  as  if  to  hear  himself 
the  tones  of  the  children  and  of  his  wife,  who  accompanied 
him.  The  burden  of  the  hymn  was  also  a  prayer  for  a 
spirit  of  fidelity  and  a  temper  of  patience  in  the  cause  of 
truth  and  Christ.  It  was  worship  in  the  highest  sense, 
and  none  within  the  dwelling  could  have  joined  more 
heartily  than  we  did  who  stood  without. 

When  it  was  ended,  and  with  it  evidently  the  evening 
service,  we  approached  and  knocked  for  admittance.  Macer 
appeared,  holding  a  light  above  his  head;  and  perceiving 
who  his  guests  were,  gave  us  cordial  welcome,  at  the  same 
time  showing  us  into  his  small  apartment,  and  placing 
stools  for  our  accommodation.  The  room  in  which  we  were 
was  small  and  vaulted,  and  built  of  stone  in  the  most  solid 
manner.  I  saw  at  once  that  it  was  one  of  the  smaller  rooms 
of  the  ancient  bath,  which  had  escaped  entire  destruction, 
and  now  served  as  a  comfortable  habitation.  A  door  on  the 
inner  side  appeared  to  connect  it  with  a  number  of  similar 
apartments.  A  table  in  the  centre  and  a  few  stools,  a 
shelf,  on  which  were  arranged  the  few  articles  which  they 
possessed,  both  for  cooking  and  eating  their  food,  consti 
tuted  the  furniture  of  the  room.  In  the  room  next  beyond 
I  could  see  pallets  of  straw  laid  upon  the  floor,  and  which 
served  for  beds.  Macer,  his  wife,  and  six  children,  com 
posed  the  family  then  present;  the  two  elder  sons  being 
yet  absent  at  their  work  in  the  shop  of  Demetrius.  The 


212  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

mother  held  at  her  breast  an  infant  of  a  year  or  more ;  one 
of  three  years  sprang  again  upon  his  father's  lap,  as  he  re 
sumed  his  seat  after  our  entrance,  whence  he  had  apparently 
been  just  dislodged  ;  the  rest,  sitting  in  obscure  parts  of  the 
room,  were  at  first  scarcely  visible.  The  wife  of  Macer  ex 
pressed  heartily  her  pleasure  at  seeing  us,  and  said  even 
more  by  her  flushed  and  animated  countenance  than  by 
her  words.  The  severe  countenance  of  Macer  himself  re 
laxed  and  gave  signs  of  satisfaction. 

"  I  owe  you,  Piso, "  he  said,  "  many  thanks  for  mercies 
shown  to  my  wife  and  my  little  ones  here,  and  I  am  glad  to 
see  you  among  us.  We  are  far  apart  enough  as  the  world 
measures  such  things ;  but  in  Christ  we  are  one.  At  such 
times  as  these,  when  the  prince  of  darkness  rules,  we 
ought,  if  ever,  to  draw  toward  each  other,  that  so  we  may 
make  better  our  common  defence.  I  greet  you  as  a  brother ; 
I  trust  to  love  you  as  one. " 

I  told  him  that  nothing  should  be  wanting  on  my  part 
toward  a  free  and  friendly  intercourse;  that  from  all  I  had 
heard  of  him  I  had  conceived  a  high  regard  for  him,  and 
owed  him  more  thanks  for  what  he  had  done  in  behalf  of 
our  religion  than  he  could  me  for  any  services  I  had  ren 
dered  him. 

"  Me ! "  said  he,  and  his  head  fell  upon  his  bosom ; 
"  what  have  I  done  for  Christ  to  deserve  the  thanks  of  any  ? 
I  have  preached  and  I  have  prayed  ;  I  have  opposed  heresies 
and  errors  ;  I  have  wrestled  with  the  enemies  and  corrupters 
of  our  faith  within  our  own  body  and  without ;  but  the 
fruit  seems  nothing.  The  gentile  is  still  omnipotent; 
heresy  and  error  still  abound. " 

"  Yes,  Macer, "  I  replied,  "  that  is  certainly  so,  and  may 
be  so  for  many  years  to  come;  but  still  we  are  gaining. 
He  who  can  remember  twenty  years,  can  count  a  great  in 
crease.  After  the  testimony  borne  by  the  martyrs  of  the 
Decian  persecution  to  their  faith,  and  all  the  proofs  they 
gave  of  sincere  attachment  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  crowds 
have  entered  the  Church,  —  a  hundred  for  every  one  whose 
blood  then  flowed. " 


FROM  PISO   TO   F'AUSTA.  213 

"  And  now, "  said  Macer,  his  eye  kindling  with  its  wild 
fires,  "  the  Church  is  dead  !  The  truest  prayer  that  the 
Christian  can  now  offer  is  that  it  would  please  God  to  try 
us  again  as  it  were  by  fire !  We  slumber,  Piso !  The 
Christians  are  not  now  the  Nazarites  they  were  in  the  first 
age  of  the  Church.  Divisions  have  crept  in;  tares  have 
been  sown  with  the  wheat,  and  have  come  up,  and  are 
choking  the  true  plants  of  God.  I  know  not  but  the  signs 
of  terror  which  are  scaring  the  heavens  ought  rather  to  be 
hailed  as  tokens  of  love.  Better  a  thousand  perish  on  the 
rack  or  by  the  axe  than  that  the  Church  itself  faint  away 
and  die. " 

"  It  will  not  do, "  said  Probus,  "  always  to  depend  upon 
such  remedies  of  our  sloth  and  heresies,  Macer.  Surely  it 
were  better  to  prosper  in  some  other  and  happier  way.  All 
I  think  we  can  say  of  persecution,  and  of  the  oppositions 
of  our  enemies,  is  this :  that  if  it  be  in  the  providence  of 
God  that  they  cannot  be  avoided,  we  have  cause  to  bless 
him  that  their  issue  is -good  rather  than  evil;  that  they 
serve  as  tests  by  which  the  genuine  is  tried  and  proved ; 
that  they  give  the  best  and  highest  testimony  to  the  world 
that  man  can  give  of  his  sincerity ;  that  they  serve  to  bind 
together  into  one  compact  and  invincible  phalanx  the  dis 
ciples  of  our  common  Master,  however  in  many  things  they 
may  divide  and  separate.  But  were  it  not  better,  if  we 
could  attain  an  equal  good  without  the  suffering  ?  " 

"  I  believe  that  to  be  impossible, "  said  Macer.  "  Since 
Jesus  began  his  ministry,  persecution  has  been  the  rod  that 
has  been  laid  upon  the  Church,  without  sparing,  and  the 
fruit  has  been  abundant.  Without  it,  like  these  foolish 
children,  we  might  run  riot  in  all  iniquity.  " 

"  I  do  not  say  that  the  rod  has  not  been  needed, "  answered 
Probus,  "  nor  that  good  has  not  ensued ;  but  only  that  it 
would  be  better,  wiser,  and  happier,  to  reach  the  same  good 
without  the  rod ;  just  as  it  is  better  when  your  children, 
without  chastisement,  fulfil  your  wishes  and  perform  their 
tasks.  We  hope  and  trust  that  our  children  will  grow  up 
to  such  virtue  that  they  will  no  longer  need  the  discipline 


214  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

of  suffering  to  make  them  better.  Ought  we  not  to  look 
and  pray  for  a  period  to  arrive  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
when  men  shall  no  longer  need  to  be  lashed  and  driven, 
but  shall  of  themselves  discern  what  is  best,  and  cleave 
to  it?" 

"  That  might,  indeed,  be  better,  "  replied  the  other ;  "  but 
the  time  is  not  come  for  it  yet.  The  Church,  I  say,  is  cor 
rupt,  and  it  cries  out  for  another  purging.  Christians  are 
already  lording  it  over  one  another.  The  Bishop  of  Home 
sets  himself  up  as  a  lord  over  subjects.  A  Eoman  Caesar 
walks  it  not  more  proudly.  What  with  his  robes  of  state, 
and  his  seat  of  gold,  and  his  golden  rod,  and  his  altar  set 
out  with  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  and  his  long  train  of 
menials  and  subordinates,  poor  simple  Macer,  who  learned 
of  Christ,  as  he  hopes,  is  at  a  loss  to  discern  the  follower 
of  the  lowly  Jesus,  but  takes  Felix,  the  Christian  servant, 
for  some  Fronto  of  a  heathen  temple.  Were  the  power 
mine,  as  the  will  is,  never  would  I  stay  for  Aurelian,  but 
my  own  arm  should  sweep  from  the  places  they  pollute  the 
worst  enemies  of  the  Saviour.  Did  Jesus  die  that  Felix 
might  flaunt  his  peacock's  feathers  in  the  face  of  Rome  ?  " 

"  We  cannot  hope,  Macer, "  answered  Probus,  "  to  grow 
up  to  perfection  at  once.  I  see  and  bewail  the  errors  at 
which  you  point  as  well  as  you.  But  if  to  remove  them 
we  bring  down  the  heavy  arm  of  Rome  upon  our  heads,  the 
remedy  may  prove  worse  than  the  disease. " 

"  No ;  that  could  not  be  !  Let  those  who  with  open  eyes 
abuse  the  gifts  of  God  perish !  If  this  faith  cannot  be 
maintained  undefiled  by  heathen  additions,  let  it  perish  !  " 

"  But  God  dealeth  not  so  with  us,  *  continued  Probus  ;  "  he 
beareth  long  and  patiently.  We  are  not  destroyed  because 
in  the  first  years  of  our  life  we  do  not  rise  to  all  virtue,  but 
are  spared  to  fourscore.  Ought  we  not  to  manifest  a  like 
patience  and  forbearance  ?  By  waiting  patiently,  we  shall 
see  our  faults,  and  one  by  one  correct  them.  There  is  still 
some  reason  and  discernment  left  among  us.  We  are  not 
all  fools  and  blind.  And  the  faults  which  we  correct  our 
selves,  by  our  own  action,  and  the  conviction  of  our  own 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  215 

minds  acting  freely  and  voluntarily,  will  be  more  truly 
corrected  than  if  we  are  but  frightened  away  from  them  for 
a  time  by  the  terrors  of  the  Eoman  sword.  I  think,  Macer, 
and  so  thinks  Piso,  that  far  from  seeking  to  inflame  the 
common  mind,  and  so  drawing  upon  us  the  evils  which  are 
now  with  reason  apprehended,  we  should  rather  aim  to  ward 
them  off. " 

"  Never !  "  cried  Macer,  with  utmost  indignation.  "  Shall 
the  soldier  of  the  cross  shrink  — 

"  No,  Macer,  he  need  not  shrink ;  let  him  stand  armed 
in  panoply  complete,  prompt  to  serve,  willing  to  die ;  but 
let  him  not  wantonly  provoke  an  enemy  who  may  not  only 
destroy  him,  —  that  were  a  little  thing,  —  but  in  the  fury 
of  the  onset,  thousands  with  him,  and  perhaps  with  them 
the  very  faith  for  which  they  die !  The  Christian  is  not 
guiltless  who,  though  it  be  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  rushes 
upon  unnecessary  death.  You,  Macer,  are  not  only  a 
Christian  and  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,  but  a  man,  who, 
having  received  life  from  the  Creator,  have  no  right  wan 
tonly  to  throw  it  away.  You  are  a  husband,  and  you  are 
bound  to  live  for  your  wife ;  these  are  your  children,  and 
you  are  bound  to  live  for  them. " 

"  He, "  said  Macer,  solemnly,  "  who  hateth  not  father, 
and  mother,  and  wife,  and  children,  and  brethren,  and 
sister,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  cannot  be  my  disciple. " 

"  Yes, "  replied  Probus,  "  that  is  true ;  we  are  to  be  ready 
and  willing  to  suffer  for  Christ  and  truth ;  but  not  to  seek 
it.  He  who  seeks  martyrdom  is  no  martyr.  Selfish  pas 
sions  have  then  mingled  their  impure  current  with  that  of 
love  to  God,  and  the  sacrifice  is  not  without  spot  and  blem 
ish.  Jesus  did  not  so,  nor  his  first  followers.  When  the 
Lord  was  persecuted  in  one  city,  he  stayed  not  there  to  in 
flame  it  more  and  more ;  he  fled  to  another.  Paul  and  Peter 
and  Barnabas  stood  ever  for  their  rights ;  they  suffered  not 
wrong  willingly.  When  the  ark  of  truth  is  entrusted  to 
few  hands,  they  must  bear  it  forward  boldly,  but  with  care, 
else  are  they  at  a  blow  cut  off,  and  the  ark  with  its  precious 
burden  borne  away  and  lost,  or  miracles  alone  can  rescue 


216  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

it.  But  when  the  time  comes  that  no  prudence  or  care  will 
avail,  then  they  may  not  refuse  the  issue,  but  must  show 
that  life  is  nothing  in  comparison  of  truth  and  God. " 

"  Probus, "  said  Macer,  "  I  like  not  your  timid  counsels. 
'T  is  not  by  such  that  Christ's  cause  shall  ever  advance,  or 
that  period  ever  come  when  he,  the  long  looked  and  waited 
for,  shall  descend,  and  the  millennial  reign  begin.  Life 
is  nothing  to  me,  and  less  than  nothing.  I  hold  it  as 
dirt  and  dross.  And  if  by  throwing  it  away  I  can  add 
such  a  commentary  to  my  preaching  as  shall  strike  a  single 
pagan  heart,  I  shall  not  have  died  in  vain ;  and  if  the  blood 
that  shall  flow  from  these  veins  may  serve  but  as  a  purge 
to  carry  off  the  foul  humours  that  now  fester  and  rage  in  the 
body  of  the  Church,  thrice  happy  shall  I  be  to  see  it  flow. 
And  for  these,  let  them  be  as  the  women  and  children  of  other 
times,  and  hold  not  back  when  their  Master  calls.  Arria  ! 
do  thou  set  before  thee  Saint  Blandina,  and  if  the  Lord 
let  thee  be  as  her,  thou  wilt  have  cause  to  bless  his  name.  " 

"  Never,  Macer,  would  I  shrink  from  any  trial  to  which 
the  Lord  in  his  wisdom  might  call  me ;  that  you  know. 
But  has  not  Probus  uttered  a  truth  when  he  says  that  we 
are  not  innocent,  and  never  glorious,  when  we  seek  death : 
that  he  who  seeks  martyrdom  is  no  martyr?  Listen, 
Macer,  to  the  wisdom  of  Probus  and  the  noble  Piso.  Did 
you  not  promise  that  you  would  patiently  hear  them  ?  " 

"  Woman,  I  have  heard  them ;  their  words  are  naught, 
stark  naught,  or  worse.  Where  would  have  been  the 
blessed  gospel  at  this  hour  had  it  been  committed  to  such 
counsels  ?  Even  under  Nero  would  it  have  died  for  want 
of  those  who  were  willing  to  die  for  it.  I  am  a  soldier  of 
the  cross,  whose  very  vocation  it  is  to  fight  and  die.  And 
if  I  may  but  die,  blessed  Jesus !  for  thee,  then  may  I  hope 
that  thou  wilt  deal  mercifully  with  thy  servant  at  thy 
judgment-seat.  I  hear  thy  voice  ever  sounding  in  my  ear, 
reproving  me  for  my  cowardice.  Have  patience  with  me, 
and  I  will  give  thee  all.  And  if  labour,  and  torture,  and 
death,  would  but  cancel  sin !  But  alas !  even  they  may 
not  suffice. " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  217 

"  Then,  dear  father, "  said  one  of  his  daughters,  who  had 
drawn  near  and  seated  herself  at  his  knee,  while  the  others 
had  gathered  round, —  "  then  will  we  add  ourselves  to  the 
sacrifice. " 

"  Would  you  ?  "  said  Macer,  in  an  absent,  musing  way, 
as  if  some  other  thought  were  occupying  him. 

Thinking  that  his  love  of  his  children,  evidently  a  very 
strong  affection  in  him,  might  be  made  to  act  as  a  restraint, 
I  said  that  "  I  feared  he  greatly  exposed  his  little  family 
to  unnecessary  danger.  Already  had  his  dwelling  been 
once  assailed,  and  the  people  were  now  ripe  for  any  vio 
lence.  This  group  of  little  ones  can  ill  encounter  a  rude 
and  furious  mob. " 

"  They  can  die,  can  they  not  ?  "  said  Macer.  "  Is  that 
difficult,  or  impossible  ?  If  the  Lord  need  them,  they  are 
his.  I  can  ask  no  happier  lot  for  them  than  that  by  death 
they  may  glorify  God.  And  what  is  it  to  die  so,  more 
than  in  another  way  ?  Let  them  die  in  their  beds,  and 
whom  do  they  benefit  ?  They  die  then  to  themselves,  and 
no  one  is  the  gainer;  let  them  die  by  the  sword  of  Yarus, 
or  by  the  stones  of  the  populace,  and  then  they  become 
themselves  stones  in  the  foundation  of  that  temple  of  God 
of  which  Jesus  is  the  chief  corner-stone,  and  they  are  glo 
rious  forever.  What  say  you,  Cicer, —  will  you  die  for 
Christ  ?  " 

The  little  fellow  hid  his  head  in  his  father's  bosom  at 
this  sudden  appeal,  but  soon  drew  it  out,  and  said,— 

"  I  would  rather  die  for  you,  father.  " 

"  Ah  !  "  said  Macer,  "  how  I  am  punished  in  my  children  ! 
Cicer,  would  you  not  die  for  Christ  ?  " 

"  I  would  die  for  him  if  you  wish  it.  " 

"  Macer, "  said  Probus,  "  do  you  not  see  how  God  has 
bound  you  and  this  family  into  one  ?  and  he  surely  requires 
you  not  to  separate  yourself,  their  natural  protector,  from 
them  forever ;  still  less,  to  involve  them  in  all  the  suffer 
ings  which,  taking  the  course  you  do,  may  come  upon  them 
at  any  hour.  " 

"  Probus !  their  death  would  give  me  more  pleasure  than 


218  LETTERS  FROM    ROME. 

their  life,  —  dying  for  Christ.  I  love  them  now  and  here, 
fondly  as  ever  parent  loved  his  children ;  but  what  is  now, 
and  here  ?  Nothing.  The  suffering  of  an  hour  or  of  a  mo 
ment  joins  us  together  again,  where  suffering  shall  be  no 
more  and  death  no  more.  To-morrow,  yes,  to-morrow 
would  I  that  the  wrath  of  these  idol-worshippers  might  be 
turned  against  us.  Eome  must  be  roused, —  she  sleeps  the 
sleep  of  death ;  and  the  Church  sleeps  it  too ;  both  need 
that  they  who  are  for  the  Lord  should  stand  forth,  and,  not 
waiting  to  be  attacked,  themselves  assail  the  enemy,  who 
need  but  to  be  assailed  with  the  zeal  and  courage  of  men 
who  were  once  to  be  found  in  the  Church,  to  be  driven  at 
all  points. " 

"  But,  father, "  said  the  daughter  who  had  spoken  before, 
"  other  Christans  think  not  so.  They  believe  for  the  most 
part,  as  I  hear,  with  Probus  and  Piso,  that  on  no  account 
should  we  provoke  the  gentiles,  or  give  them  cause  of  com 
plaint  against  us ;  they  think  that  to  do  so  would  greatly 
harm  us ;  that  our  duty  is  to  go  on  the  even  tenor  of  our 
way,  worshipping  God  after  our  own  doctrine  and  in  our 
own  manner,  and  claiming  and  exercising  all  our  rights  as 
citizens,  but  abstaining  from  every  act  that  might  rouse 
their  anger,  or  needlessly  irritate  them,  —  irritated  neces 
sarily  almost  beyond  bearing  by  the  wide  and  increasing 
prosperity  of  our  faith,  and  the  daily  falling  away  of  the  tem 
ple  worshippers.  Would  it  be  right,  dearest  father,  to  do 
that  which  others  approve  not,  and  the  effect  of  which  might 
be  not  only  to  draw  down  evil  upon  your  and  our  heads,  but 
upon  thousands  of  others  ?  We  cannot  separate  ourselves 
from  our  brethren ;  if  one  suffers,  all  will  suffer.  " 

K  Mlia,  my  daughter,  there  is  a  judge  within  the  breast 
whom  I  am  bound  to  obey  rather  than  any  other  counsel, 
of  either  man  or  woman.  I  cannot  believe,  because  another 
believes,  a  certain  truth.  Neither  can  I  act  in  a  certain 
way  because  others  hold  it  their  duty  to  act  so.  I  must 
obey  the  inward  voice,  and  no  other.  If  I  abandon  this, 
T  am  lost ;  I  am  on  the  desert,  without  sun,  moon,  or  stars 
to  guide  me.  All  the  powers  of  the  earth  could  not  bribe 


FROM  PISO  TO   FAUSTA.  219 

nor  drag  me  from  that  which  I  hold  to  be  the  true  order 
of  conduct  for  me,  —  shown  by  the  finger  of  God  to  be 
such. " 

"  But,  father, "  continued  the  daughter,  pursuing  her 
object,  "  are  we  not  too  lately  entered  among  the  Christians 
to  take  upon  us  a  course  which  they  condemn  ?  It  is  but 
yesterday  that  we  were  among  the  enemies  of  this  faith. 
Are  we  to-day  to  assume  the  part  of  leaders  ?  Would  not 
modesty  teach  us  a  different  lesson  ?  " 

"  Modesty  has  nothing  to  do  with  truth, "  said  Macer. 
"  He  who  is  wholly  a  Christian  to-day  is  all  that  he  can 
be  to-morrow,  or  next  year.  I  am  as  old  in  faith  and  zeal 
as  Piso,  Probus,  or  Felix.  No  one  can  believe  more,  or 
more  heartily,  by  believing  longer.  Nay,  it  is  they  who 
are  newly  saved  who  are  most  sensible  to  the  blessing. 
Custom  in  religion,  as  in  other  things,  dulls  the  soul. 
Were  I  a  Christian  much  longer  before  God  called  me  to 
serve  him  by  suffering  or  death,  I  fear  I  should  be  then 
spiritually  dead,  and  so  worse  than  before  I  believed.  Let 
it  be  to-morrow,  0  Lord,  that  I  shall  glorify  thee !  " 

It  was  plain  that  little  impression  was  to  be  made  upon 
the  mind  of  Macer.  But  we  ceased  not  to  urge  him  further, 
his  wife  and  elder  children  uniting  with  us  in  importunate 
entreaty  and  expostulation.  But  all  in  vain.  In  his  stern 
and  honest  enthusiasm  he  believed  all  prudence  cowardice ; 
all  calculation  worldliness ;  all  moderation  and  temperance 
treason  to  the  Church  and  Christ.  Yet  none  of  the  natural 
current  of  the  affections  seemed  to  be  dried  up  or  poisoned. 
No  one  could  be  more  bound  to  his  wife  and  children ;  and 
toward  us,  though  in  our  talk  we  spared  him  not,  he  ever 
maintained  the  same  frank  and  open  manner,  —  yielding 
never  an  inch  of  ground,  and  uttering  himself  with  an  ear 
nestness  and  fury  such  as  I  never  saw  in  another ;  but  soon 
as  he  had  ceased  speaking,  subsiding  into  a  gentleness  that 
seemed  almost  that  of  a  woman,  and  playfully  sporting 
with  the  little  boy  that  he  held  on  his  knee. 

Soon  as  our  conversation  was  ended,  Macer,  turning  to 
his  wife,  exclaimed,  — 


220  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  But  what  hinders  that  we  should  set  before  our  visitors 
such  hospitality  as  our  poor  house  affords  ?  Arria,  have  we 
not  such  as  may  well  enough  entertain  Christians  ?  " 

At  a  word  from  their  mother,  ^Elia  and  her  sister  imme 
diately  proceeded  to  employ  themselves  in  the  simple  rites 
of  hospitality,  and  soon  spread  out  the  table,  which  stood 
in  the  centre  of  the  room,  with  bread,  lettuces,  figs,  and  a 
flask  of  wine.  While  they  were  thus  engaged,  I  could  not 
but  observe  the  difference  in  appearance  of  the  two  elder 
sisters,  who  with  equal  alacrity  were  setting  out  the 
simple  provisions  for  our  repast.  One  was  clad,  like  the 
others  of  the  family,  in  the  garment  common  to  the  poor. 
The  other  —  she  who  had  spoken  —  was  arrayed,  not  richly, 
but  almost  so,  or,  I  should  say,  fancifully,  and  with  studied 
regard  to  effect.  While  I  was  wondering  at  this,  and  seek 
ing  in  my  own  mind  for  its  explanation,  I  was  interrupted 
in  my  thoughts  by  Macer. 

"  Thanks  to  Aurelian,  Piso,  we  are  able,  though  poor,  as 
you  see,  and  dwelling  in  these  almost  subterranean  vaults, 
to  live  above  the  fear  of  absolute  want.  But  especially  are 
we  indebted  for  many  of  our  comforts,  and  for  such  luxury 
as  this  flask  of  Massican,  to  my  partly  gentile  daughter, 
^Elia,  whom  you  behold  moving  among  us,  as  if  by  her 
attire  she  were  not  of  us,  — but  Cicer's  heart  is  not  truer, 
—  and  who  will,  despite  her  faith  and  her  father's  bidding, 
dance  and  sing  for  the  merriment  of  these  idolaters.  Never 
before,  I  believe,  had  Christian  preacher  a  dancing-girl  for 
a  daughter. " 

A  deep  blush  passed  over  the  features  of  the  daughter 
as  she  answered, — 

"But,  father,  you  know  that  in  my  judgment  —  and 
whose  in  this  matter  is  so  to  be  trusted  ?  —  I  am  in  no  way 
injured  by  my  art,  and  it  adds  somewhat  to  the  common 
stock.  I  see  not  why  I  need  be  any  the  less  a  Christian 
because  I  dance ;  especially  as  with  me  it  is  but  one  of  the 
forms  of  labour.  Were  it  forbidden  by  our  faith,  or  could 
it  be  shown  to  be  to  me  an  evil,  I  would  cease.  But  most 
sure  I  am  it  is  neither.  Let  me  now  appeal  to  Probus  for 
my  justification,  and  to  Piso.  " 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  221 

"  Doubtless, "  said  Probus,  "  those  Christians  are  right 
who  abstain  from  the  theatres,  the  amphitheatres,  the  cir 
cuses,  and  from  the  places  of  public  amusement,  where 
sights  and  sounds  meet  ear  and  eye,  such  as  the  pure  should 
never  hear  or  see,  and  such  as  none  can  hear  or  see  and 
maintain  their  purity.  The  soul  is  damaged  in  spite  of 
herself.  But  for  these  arts  of  music  and  dancing,  practised 
for  the  harmless  entertainment  of  those  who  feast  their 
friends,  —  where  alone,  I  warrant,  ^Elia  is  found,  —  who 
can  doubt  that  she  is  right  ?  Were  not  the  reception  of  the 
religion  of  Christ  compatible  with  the  indulgence  in  inno 
cent  amusement,  or  the  practice  of  harmless  art  such  as 
these,  few,  I  fear,  would  receive  it.  Christianity  condemns 
many  things  which  by  Pagans  are  held  to  be  allowable ; 
but  not  everything. " 

"  Willingly  would  I  abandon  my  art, "  said  ^Elia,  *  did  I 
perceive  it  to  injure  the  soul ;  or  could  I  in  other  ways  buy 
bread  for  our  household.  So  dearly  do  I  prize  this  new 
found  faith  that  for  its  sake,  were  it  to  be  retained  in  no 
other  way,  would  I  relinquish  it,  and  sink  into  the  deeper 
poverty  that  would  then  be  ours,  or  drudge  at  some  humbler 
toil. " 

"  Do  it !  do  it,  ^Elia !  "  said  Macer,  "  and  the  Lord  will 
love  thee  all  the  more.  'T  is  the  only  spot  on  thy  white 
and  glistening  robes.  The  Lord  loves  not,  more  than  I,  to 
see  thee  wheeling  and  waving  to  and  fro,  to  supply  mirth 
to  those  who  mayhap  would  crucify  thee  the  next  hour,  as 
others  crucified  thy  Master.  " 

Tears  fell  from  the  eyes  of  the  fair  girl  as  she  answered : 

"  Father,  it  shall  be  as  you  wish.  Not  willingly,  but 
by  constraint,  have  I  laboured  as  I  have.  God  will  not 
forsake  us,  and  will,  I  doubt  not,  open  some  new  path  of 
labour  for  me,  if,  indeed,  the  disorders  of  the  times  do  not 
first  scatter  or  destroy  us.  " 

I  here  said  to  Macer  and  his  daughter  that  there  need  be 
no  hesitation  about  abandoning  the  employment  in  question 
from  any  doubt  concerning  a  future  occupation ;  if  JElia 
would  but  accompany  her  mother  when  next  she  went  to 


222  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

visit  Julia,  I  could  assure  her  of  obtaining  there  all  she 
could  desire. 

At  this,  the  little  boy  whom  Macer  held,  clapped  his 
hands,  and  cried  out  with  joy,  "  Ah !  then  will  ^Elia  be 
always  with  us,  and  go  away  no  more ;  "  and  flying  to  his 
sister,  was  caught  by  her  in  her  arms. 

The  joy  diffused  throughout  the  little  circle  at  this  news 
was  great.  All  were  glad  that  ^Elia  was  to  dance  and  sing 
no  more,  for  all  wished  her  at  home,  and  her  profession  had 
kept  her  absent  almost  every  day.  The  table  was  now 
spread  and  we  sat  down  to  the  frugal  repast,  Macer  first  of 
fering  up  a  prayer  to  God. 

"  It  is  singular, "  said  he,  when  we  were  seated,  "  that  in 
my  heathen  estate  I  ever  asked  the  blessing  of  the  gods 
before  I  ate,  —  nay,  and  notwithstanding  the  abominations 
of  my  life,  was  often  a  worshipper  within  the  temples.  I 
verily  believe  there  are  many  Christians  who  pray  less  than 
the  heathen,  and  less  after  they  become  Christian  than 
before. " 

"  I  can  readily  believe  it, "  said  Probus.  "  False  religions 
multiply  outward  acts ;  and  for  the  reason  that  they  make 
religion  to  consist  in  them.  A  true  faith,  which  places 
religion  in  the  inward  disposition,  not  in  services,  will 
diminish  them.  More  prayers  were  said,  and  more  rites 
performed,  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  where  my  father  was 
priest,  than  the  Christian  church  where  I  serve  ever  wit 
nesses.  But  what  then  ?  With  the  pagan  worshipper, 
religion  ended  when  the  service  closed,  and  he  turned  from 
the  temple  to  the  world.  With  the  Christian,  the  highest 
service  only  commences  when  he  leaves  the  church.  Re 
ligion  with  him  is  virtuous  action  more  than  it  is  medi 
tation  or  prayer.  He  prays  without  ceasing,  not  by  uttering 
without  cessation  the  language  of  prayer,  but  by  living 
holily.  Every  act  of  every  hour  which  is  done  conscien 
tiously  is  a  prayer,  as  well  as  the  words  we  speak,  and  is 
more  pleasing  to  God,  for  the  reason  that  practice  is  better 
than  mere  profession,  doing  better  than  saying.  " 

"  That  is  true,  Probus, "  replied  Macer.     "  When  I  prayed 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  223 

as  an  idolater,  it  was  because  T  believed  that  the  gods  re 
quired  such  outward  acknowledgment,  and  that  some  evil 
or  other  might  befall  me  through  their  vengeance  if  I 
did  not.  But  when  I  had  ended  that  duty,  I  had  ended 
my  religion ;  and  my  vices  went  on  none  the  less  prosper 
ously.  Often,  indeed,  my  prayers  were  for  special  favours, 
—  wealth,  or  success  in  some  affair;  and  when,  after 
wearying  myself  with  repeating  them  a  thousand  times, 
and  the  favours  were  not  bestowed,  how  I  left  the  temple 
in  a  rage,  cursing  the  gods  I  had  just  been  worshipping, 
and  swearing  never  more  to  propitiate  them  by  prayer  or 
sacrifice !  Sometimes  I  repented  of  such  violence,  but 
oftener  kept  my  word,  and  tried  some  other  god.  You, 
Probus,  were,  I  may  believe,  of  a  more  even  temper. " 

"  Yes,  perhaps  so.  My  father  was  one  of  the  most  patient 
and  gentle  of  men,  and  religious  after  the  manner  of  our 
remoter  ancestors  of  the  days  of  the  republic.  He  was  my 
instructor,  and  from  him  I  learned  truths  which  were  suffi 
cient  for  my  happiness  under  ordinary  circumstances.  I 
was  a  devout  and  constant  worshipper  of  the  gods.  My 
every-day  life  may  then  have  been  as  pure  as  it  has  been 
since  I  have  been  a  Christian ;  and  my  prayers  as  many  or 
more.  The  instincts  of  my  nature,  which  carried  up  the 
soul  towards  some  great  and  infinite  being,  and  which  I 
could  not  resist,  kept  me  within  the  bounds  of  that  prudent 
and  virtuous  life  which  I  believed  would  be  most  accepta 
ble  to  them.  But  when  a  day  of  heavy  and  insupportable 
calamity  came  upon  me,  and  I  was  made  to  look  after  the 
foundations  of  what  I  had  been  believing,  I  found  there 
were  none.  I  was  like  a  ship  tossed  about  by  the  storms, 
without  rudder  or  pilot.  I  then  knew  not  whether  there 
were  gods  or  not;  or  if  there  were  any,  who,  among  the 
multiplicity  worshipped  in  Rome,  the  true  ones  were.  In 
my  grief,  I  railed  at  the  heavens  and  their  rulers  —  if 
there  were  any — for  not  revealing  themselves  to  us  in  our 
darkness  and  weakness ;  and  cursed  them  for  their  cruelty. 
Soon  after,  I  became  a  Christian.  The  difference  between 
my  state  then  and  now  is  this :  I  believed  then ;  but  it 


224  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

was  merely  instinctive.  I  could  give  no  reason  to  myself 
or  others  for  my  faith.  It  was  something,  and  yet  nothing. 
Now  I  have  somewhat  to  stand  upon.  I  can  prove  to  my 
self  and  to  others  my  religion  as  well  as  other  things.  I 
have  knowledge  as  well  as  blind  belief.  It  is  good  to  be 
lieve  in  something,  and  in  some  sort,  though  one  can  give 
no  account  of  his  faith ;  but  it  is  better  to  believe  in  that 
which  we  know,  as  we  know  other  things.  I  have  now,  as 
a  Christian,  the  same  strength  of  belief  in  God,  providence, 
and  futurity,  that  I  have  in  any  facts  attested  by  history. 
Jesus  has  announced  them  or  confirmed  them,  and  they  are 
susceptible  of  proof.  I  differed  from  you,  Macer,  in  this 
—  that  I  cursed  not  the  gods  in  my  passion  or  caprice ;  I 
was  for  years  and  years  their  humble,  and  contented,  and 
patient  worshipper.  I  rebelled  not  till  I  suffered  cruel  dis 
appointment,  and  in  my  faith  could  find  no  consolation  or 
light.  One  real  sorrow,  by  which  the  foundations  of  my 
earthly  peace  were  all  broken  up,  revealed  to  me  the  noth 
ingness  of  my  so-called  religion.  Into  what  a  new  world, 
Macer,  has  our  new  faith  introduced  us  !  I  am  now  happier 
than  ever  I  was  even  with  my  wife  and  children  around  me.  " 

"  Some  of  our  neighbours, "  said  Arria,  "  wonder  what  it 
is  that  makes  us  so  light  of  heart  notwithstanding  our 
poverty  and  the  dangers  to  which  we  are  so  often  exposed. 
I  tell  them  that  they  who,  like  us,  believe  in  the  provi 
dence  of  a  God,  who  is  always  near  us  and  within  us,  and 
in  the  long  reign  with  Christ  as  soon  as  death  is  past,  have 
nothing  to  fear.  That  which  they  esteem  the  greatest  evil 
of  all  is  to  us  an  absolute  gain.  Upon  this  they  either 
silently  wonder,  or  laugh  and  deride.  However,  many  too 
believe. " 

"  Probus,  "  said  Macer,  "  we  are  all  ready  to  be  offered  up. 
God's  mercy  to  me  is  beyond  all  power  of  mine  to  describe, 
in  that  he  has  touched  and  converted  the  hearts  of  every 
one  under  my  roof.  Now  if  to  this  mercy  he  will  but  add 
one  more,  that  we  may  glorify  him  by  our  death  as  well  as 
in  our  life,  the  cup  of  his  servant  will  be  full  and  running 


FROM  PISO  TO    FAUSTA.  225 

Probus  did  not  choose  again  to  engage  with  his  convert 
upon  that  theme,  knowing  him  to  be  beyond  the  reach 
of  influence  and  control.  We  could  not  but  marvel  to  see 
to  what  extent  he  had  infused  his  own  enthusiasm  into  his 
family.  His  wife,  indeed,  and  elder  daughters,  would 
willingly  see  him  calmer  and  less  violent  when  abroad, 
but  like  him,  being  by  nature  of  warm  temperament,  they 
are  Christians  warm  and  zealous  beyond  almost  any  whom 
I  have  seen.  They  are,  as  yet,  also,  so  recently  transferred 
from  their  heathen  to  their  Christian  state  that  their  sight 
is  still  dazzled,  and  they  see  not  objects  in  their  true  shapes 
and  proportions.  In  their  joy  they  seem  to  others,  and 
perhaps  often  are,  greatly  extravagant  in  the  expression  of 
their  feelings  and  opinions. 

When  our  temperate  repast  was  ended  Macer  again 
prayed,  and  we  then  separated.  Our  visit  proved  wholly 
ineffectual  as  to  the  purpose  we  had  in  view,  but  by  no 
means  so  when  I  consider  the  acquaintance  which  it  thus 
gave  me  with  a  family  in  the  very  humblest  condition,  who 
yet  were  holding  and  equally  prizing  the  same  opinions  at 
which,  after  so  much  research  and  labour,  I  had  myself 
arrived.  I  perceived  in  this  power  of  Christianity  to  adapt 
itself  to  minds  so  different  in  their  state  of  previous  prepa 
ration,  and  in  their  ability  to  examine  and  sift  a  question 
which  was  offered  to  them ;  in  the  facility  and  quickness 
with  which  it  seized  both  upon  the  understanding  and  the 
affections ;  in  the  deep  convictions  which  it  produced  of  its 
own  truth  and  excellence,  and  the  scorn  and  horror  with 
which  it  filled  the  mind  for  its  former  superstitions,  —  I 
saw  in  this  an  element  of  strength  and  of  dominion  such  as 
even  I  had  hardly  conceived,  and  which  assures  me  that  this 
religion  is  destined  to  a  universal  empire.  Not  more  cer 
tainly  do  all  men  need  it  than  they  will  have  it.  When 
in  this  manner,  with  everything  against  it  in  the  habits, 
lives,  and  prejudices  of  men,  with  itself  almost  against 
itself  in  its  strictness  and  uncompromising  morality,  it 
nevertheless  forces  its  way  into  minds  of  every  variety  of 
character,  and  diffuses  wherever  it  goes  the  same  inward 

15 


226  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

happiness, —  its  success  under  such  circumstances  is  at  once 
an  argument  for  its  truth,  and  an  assurance  that  it  will 
pause  in  its  progress  not  till  it  shall  have  subdued  the 
world  to  itself. 

Julia  was  deeply  interested  in  all  that  I  told  her  of  the 
family  of  Macer,  and  will  make  them  all  her  special  charge. 
^Elia  will,  I  hope,  become  in  some  capacity  a  member  of  our 
household. 

I  ought  to  tell  you  that  we  have  often  of  late  been  at  the 
Gardens,  where  we  have  seen  both  Livia  and  Aurelian. 
Livia  is  the  same,  but  the  emperor  is  changed.  A  gloomy 
horror  seems  to  sit  upon  him,  which  both  indisposes  him 
to  converse  as  formerly,  and  others  to  converse  with  him. 
Especially  has  he  shown  himself  averse  to  discussion  of 
any  point  that  concerns  the  Christians,  at  least  with  me. 
When  I  would  willingly  have  drawn  him  that  way,  he 
has  shrunk  from  it  with  an  expression  of  distaste  for  it,  or 
with  more  expressive  silence,  or  the  dark  language  of  his 
terrific  frown.  For  me,  however,  he  has  no  terrors,  and 
I  have  resolved  to  break  through  the  barriers  he  chooses  to 
set  up  around  him,  and  learn  if  I  can  what  his  feelings  and 
purposes  precisely  are.  One  conversation  may  reveal  them 
in  such  a  way  as  may  make  it  sufficiently  plain  what  part 
he  means  to  act,  and  what  measure  of  truth  there  may  be  in 
the  current  rumours ;  in  which,  for  my  own  part,  I  cannot 
bring  myself  to  place  much  reliance.  I  doubt  even  concern 
ing  the  death  of  Aurelia,  whether,  if  even  it  has  taken  place, 
it  is  not  to  be  traced  to  some  cause  other  than  religion. 

A  day  has  passed.  I  have  seen  the  emperor,  as  I  was 
resolved  to  do,  and  now  I  no  longer  doubt  what  his  designs 
are,  nor  that  they  are  dark  as  they  have  been  represented, 
—  yea,  and  darker,  even  as  night  is  darker  than  day. 

Upon  reaching  the  palace  I  was  told  that  the  emperor 
was  exercising  at  the  hippodrome,  toward  which  I  then 
bent  my  steps.  It  lies  at  some  distance  from  the  palace, 
concealed  from  it  by  intervening  groves.  Soon  as  I  came 
in  sight  of  it,  I  beheld  Aurelian  upon  his  favourite  horse, 
running  the  course  as  if  contending  for  a  prize,  plying  the 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  227 

while  the  fierce  animal  he  bestrode  with  the  lash,  as  if  he 
were  some  laggard  who  needed  rousing  to  his  work.  Swifter 
than  the  wind  he  flew  by  me,  how  many  times  I  know  not, 
without  noting,  apparently,  that  any  one  was  present  besides 
the  attendant  slaves ;  nor  did  he  cease  till  the  horse,  spent 
and  exhausted,  no  longer  obeyed  the  will  of  even  the  em 
peror  of  the  world.  Many  a  noble  charger  has  he  in  this 
manner  rode  till  he  has  fallen  dead.  So  long  used  as  this 
man  has  been  to  the  terrific  game  of  war,  and  the  scenes  and 
sights  which  that  reveals,  stirring  to  their  depths  all  the 
direst  passions  of  our  nature,  that  now,  at  home  and  at 
peace,  life  grows  stale  and  flat,  and  needs  the  artificial 
stimulants  which  violent  and  extreme  modes  of  action  can 
alone  supply.  The  death  of  a  horse  on  the  course  answers 
now  for  a  legion  slain  in  battle ;  an  unruly,  or  disobedient, 
or  idle  slave  hewn  in  two  affords  the  relief  which  the  exe 
cution  of  prisoners  has  been  accustomed  to  yield.  He 
pants  for  the  day  to  arrive  when,  having  completed  the 
designs  he  has  set  on  foot  in  the  city,  he  shall  again  join 
the  army,  now  accumulating  in  huge  masses  in  Thrace, 
and  once  more  find  himself  in  the  East,  on  the  way  to  new 
conquests  and  fresh  slaughter. 

As  he  threw  himself  from  his  horse,  now  breathing  hard 
and  scarcely  supporting  himself,  the  foam  rolling  from  him 
like  snow,  he  saluted  me  in  his  usual  manner. 

"  A  fair  and  fortunate  day  to  you,  Piso !  And  what  may 
be  the  news  in  the  city[?  I  have  rode  fast  and  far,  but  have 
heard  nothing.  I  come  back  empty  as  I  went  out,  save  the 
heat  which  I  have  put  into  my  veins.  This  horse  is  he  I 
was  seen  upon,  from  the  walls  of  Palmyra,  by  your  and 
other  traitor  eyes.  But  for  first  passing  through  the  better 
part  of  my  leg  and  then  the  saddle,  the  arrow  that  hit  me 
then  had  been  the  death  of  him.  But  death  is  not  for  him, 
nor  he  for  death;  he  and  his  rider  are  something  alike,  and 
will  long  be  so,  if  auguries  ever  speak  truth.  And  if  there 
be  not  truth  in  auguries,  Piso,  where  is  it  to  be  found  among 
mortals  ?  These  three  mornings  have  I  rode  him,  to  see  if 
in  this  manner  he  could  be  destroyed ;  but  thou  seest  how 


228  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

it  issues, —  I  should  destroy  myself  before  him.  But  what, 
I  say,  is  the  news?  How  does  the  lady  Julia,  and  the 
queen ! " 

Eeplying  first  to  these  last  inquiries,  I  then  said  that 
there  was  little  news,  I  believed,  in  the  city.  The  only 
thing,  perhaps,  that  could  be  treated  as  news  was  the  gen 
eral  uneasiness  of  the  Christians. 

"  Ah !  they  are  uneasy  ?  By  the  gods,  not  wholly  with 
out  reason.  Were  it  not  for  them,  I  had  now  been,  not 
here  chafing  my  horse  and  myself  on  a  hippodrome,  but 
tearing  up  instead  the  hard  sands  of  the  Syrian  deserts. 
They  weigh  upon  me  like  a  nightmare !  They  are  a  visible 
curse  of  the  gods  upon  the  state ,  but  being  seen,  it  can  be 
removed.  I  reckon  not  you  among  this  tribe,  Piso,  when 
I  speak  of  them.  What  purpose  is  imputed  ?  " 

"  Rumour  varies.  No  distinct  purpose  is  named,  but 
rather  a  general  one  of  abridging  some  of  their  liberties,  — 
suppressing  their  worship,  and  silencing  their  priests. " 

"  Goes  it  no  farther  ? " 

"  Not  with  many ;  for  the  people  are  still  willing  to  be 
lieve  that  Aurelian  will  inflict  no  needless  suffering.  They 
see  you  great  in  war,  severe  in  the  chastisement  of  the  ene 
mies  of  the  state,  and  just  in  the  punishment  inflicted 
upon  domestic  rebels ;  and  they  conceive  that,  in  regard  to 
this  simple  people,  you  will  not  go  beyond  the  rigour  I 
have  just  named. " 

"  Truly  they  give  me  credit, "  replied  Aurelian,  "  for  what 
I  scarcely  deserve.  But  an  emperor  can  never  hear  the 
truth.  Piso,  they  will  find  themselves  deceived.  One  or 
the  other  must  fall,  —  Hellenism  or  Christianity  !  I  knew 
not  till  my  late  return  from  the  East  the  ravages  made  by 
this  modern  superstition,  not  only  throughout  Rome,  but 
the  world.  In  this  direction  I  have  for  many  years  been 
blind.  I  have  had  eyes  only  for  the  enemies  of  my  country, 
and  the  glories  of  the  battle-field.  But  now,  upon  resting 
here  a  space  in  the  heart  of  the  empire,  I  find  that  heart 
eaten  out  and  gone ;  the  religion  of  ancient  Rome,  which 
was  its  very  life,  decaying  and  almost  dead,  through  the 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  229 

rank  growth  of  this  overshadowing  poison-tree  that  has 
shot  up  at  its  side.  It  must  be  cut  up  by  the  roots,  the 
branches  hewn  away,  the  leaves  stripped  and  scattered  to 
the  winds ;  nay,  the  very  least  fibre  that  lurks  below  the 
surface  with  life  in  it  must  be  wrenched  out  and  consumed. 
We  must  do  thus  by  the  Christians  and  their  faith,  or  they 
will  do  so  by  us.  " 

"  I  am  hardly  willing,  "  I  replied,  "  to  believe  what  I  have 
heard  ;  nor  will  I  believe  it.  It  were  an  act  so  mad  and  un 
wise,  as  well  as  so  cruel,  that  I  will  not  believe  it,  though 
coming  from  the  lips  of  Aurelian  !  " 

"  It  is  true,  Piso,  as  the  light  of  yonder  sun  !  But  if  thou 
wilt  not  believe,  wait  a  day  or  two,  and  proof  enough  shalt 
thou  have  —  proof  that  shall  cure  thy  infidelity  —  in  a  river 
of  Christian  blood. " 

"  Still,  Aurelian, "  I  answered,  "  I  believe  not ;  nor  will, 
till  that  river  shall  run  down  before  my  eyes  red  and  thick 
as  the  Orontes  !  " 

"  How,  Piso,  is  this  ?     I  thought  you  knew  me  !  " 

"  In  part  I  am  sure  I  do.  I  know  you  neither  to  be  a 
madman  nor  a  fool,  both  which  in  one  would  you  be  to  at 
tempt  what  you  have  now  threatened.  " 

"  Young  Piso,  you  are  bold  !  " 

"  I  make  no  boast  of  courage, "  I  replied ;  "  but  I  know 
that  in  familiar  speech  with  Aurelian,  I  need  not  fear 
him.  Surely  you  would  not  converse  on  such  a  subject 
with  a  slave  or  a  flatterer.  A  Piso  can  be  neither.  I  can 
speak,  or  I  can  be  silent ;  but  if  I  speak  —  " 

"  Say  on,  say  on,  in  the  name  of  the  gods  !  " 

"  What  I  would  say  to  Aurelian,  then,  is  this :  that 
slaughter  as  he  may,  the  Christians  cannot  be  extermi 
nated  ;  that  though  he  decimated,  first  Rome,  and  then  the 
empire,  there  would  still  be  left  a  seed  that  would  spring 
up  and  bear  its  proper  harvest.  Nay,  Aurelian,  though 
you  halved  the  empire,  you  could  not  win  your  game. 
The  Christians  are  more  than  you  deem  them.  " 

"  Be  it  so, "  replied  the  emperor ;  "  nevertheless  I  will 
try.  But  they  are  not  so  many  as  you  rate  them  at,  neither 
by  a  direct  nor  an  indirect  enumeration.  " 


230  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

"  Let  that  pass,  then, "  I  answered.  "  Let  them  be  a 
half,  a  quarter,  or  a  tenth  part  of  what  I  believe  them  to 
be ;  it  will  be  the  same,  —  they  cannot  be  exterminated. 
Soon  as  the  work  of  death  is  done,  that  of  life  will  begin 
again,  and  the  growth  will  be  the  more  rank  for  the  blood 
spilled  around.  Outside  of  the  tenth  part,  Aurelian,  that 
now  openly  professes  this  new  religion,  there  lies  another 
equal  number  of  those  who  do  not  openly  profess  it,  but 
do  so  either  secretly,  or  else  view  it  with  favour  and  with 
the  desire  to  accept  it.  Your  violence,  inflicted  upon  the 
open  believers,  reaches  not  them,  for  they  are  an  invisible 
multitude ;  but  no  sooner  has  it  fallen  and  done  its  work 
of  ruin  than  this  other  multitude  slowly  reveals  itself,  and 
stands  forth  heirs  and  professors  of  the  persecuted  faith, 
and  ready,  like  those  who  went  before  them,  to  live  for  it 
and  die  for  it.  " 

"  What  you  say  may  be  so, "  answered  Aurelian ;  "  I  had 
thought  not  of  it.  Nevertheless  I  will  try.  " 

"  Moreover, "  I  continued,  "  in  every  time  of  persecution 
there  are  those  —  sincere  believers,  but  timid  —  who  dare 
not  meet  the  threatened  horrors.  These  deny  not  their 
faith,  but  they  shrink  from  sight;  they  for  a  season  dis 
appear  ;  their  hearts  worship  as  ever,  but  their  tongues  are 
silent;  and  search  as  they  may,  your  emissaries  of  blood 
cannot  find  them.  But  soon  as  the  storm  is  overpast,  then 
do  they  come  forth  again,  as  insects  from  the  leaves  that 
sheltered  them  from  the  storm,  and  fill  again  the  forsaken 
churches. " 

"  Nevertheless  I  will  try  for  them. " 

"  Then  will  you  be,  Aurelian,  as  one  that  sheds  blood 
because  he  will  shed  it, —  seeing  that  the  end  at  which  you 
aim  cannot  in  such  way  be  reached.  Confiscation,  impris 
onment,  scourging,  fires,  torture,  and  death,  will  all  be  in 
vain ;  and  with  no  more  prospect  that  by  such  oppression 
Christianity  can  be  annihilated  than  there  would  be  of 
rooting  out  poppies  from  your  fields,  when,  as  you  struck 
off  the  heads  or  tore  up  the  old  roots,  the  ripe  seeds  were 
scattered  abroad  over  the  soil,  a  thousand  for  every  parent 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  231 

stalk  that  fell.  You  will  drench  yourself  in  the  blood  of 
the  innocent,  only  that  you  may  do  it,  while  no  effect  shall 
follow. " 

"  Let  it  be  so,  then,  —  even  so.  Still  I  will  not  forbear. 
But  this  I  know,  Piso,  that  when  a  disaffection  has  broken 
out  in  a  legion,  and  I  have  caused  the  half  thereof,  or  its 
tenth,  to  be  drawn  forth  and  slaughtered  by  the  other  part, 
the  danger  has  disappeared.  The  physic  has  been  bitter, 
but  it  has  cured  the  patient.  I  am  a  good  surgeon,  and 
well  used  to  letting  blood.  I  know  the  wonders  it  works, 
and  shall  try  it  now,  not  doubting  to  see  some  good  effects. 
When  poison  is  in  the  veins,  let  out  the  blood,  and  the 
new  that  comes  in  is  wholesome.  Eome  is  poisoned  !  " 

"  Great  emperor, "  I  replied,  "  you  know  nothing,  allow 
me  to  say,  whereof  you  affirm.  You  know  not  the  Chris 
tians,  and  how  can  you  deem  them  poison  to  the  state  ?  A 
purer,  holier  brotherhood  never  has  the  world  seen.  I 
am  but  of  late  one  among  them,  and  it  is  but  a  few 
months  since  I  thought  of  them  as  you  now  do.  But  I 
knew  nothing  of  them.  Now  I  know  them.  And  knowl 
edge  has  placed  them  before  me  in  another  light.  If 
Aurelian  —  " 

"  I  know  nothing  of  them,  Piso,  I  know ;  and  I  wish  to 
know  nothing, — nothing  more  than  that  they  are  Chris- 
tains  ;  that  they  deny  the  good  gods ;  that  they  aim  at 
the  overthrow  of  the  religion  of  the  state,  —  that  religion 
under  whose  fostering  care  Eome  has  grown  up  to  her  giant 
size ;  that  they  are  firebrands  of  discord  and  quarrel  in 
Rome,  and  throughout  the  world.  Greater  would  my  name 
be  could  I  extirpate  this  accursed  tribe  than  it  is  for 
triumphing  both  over  the  East  and  West,  or  would  be 
though  I  gained  the  whole  world. " 

"  Aurelian, "  I  replied,  "  this  is  not  such  as  I  used  to 
hear  from  your  lips.  Another  spirit  possesses  you,  and  it 
is  not  hard  to  tell  whence  it  comes. " 

"  You  would  say,  from  Fronto  ?  " 

"  I  would.  There  is  the  rank  poison  that  has  turned  the 
blood  in  the  veins  of  one  whom  justice  and  wisdom  once 
ruled,  into  its  own  accursed  substance. " 


232  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  I  and  Rome,  Piso, "  said  Aurelian,  "  owe  much  to 
Fronto.  I  confess  that  his  spirit  now  possesses  me.  He 
has  roused  the  latent  piety  into  action  and  life  which  I 
received  with  my  mother's  niilk,  but  which,  the  gods  for 
give  me !  carried  away  by  ambition,  had  well-nigh  gone 
quite  out  in  my  soul.  My  mother  —  dost  thou  know  it? 
—  was  a  priestess  of  Apollo,  and  never  did  god  or  goddess 
so  work  by  unseen  influence  to  gain  a  mortal's  heart  as 
did  she  to  fill  mine  with  reverence  of  the  deities  of  heaven, 
especially  of  the  great  god  of  light.  I  was  early  a  way 
ward  child.  When  a  soldier  in  the  legions  I  now  com 
mand,  my  life  was  what  a  soldier's  is,  — a  life  of  action, 
hardship,  peril,  and  blood.  The  gods  soon  became  to  me 
as  if  they  were  not.  And  so  it  has  been  for  well-nigh  all 
the  years  of  my  life.  But  the  gods  be  thanked,  Fronto 
has  redeemed  me !  and  since  I  have  worn  this  diadem  have 
I  toiled,  Rome  can  testify  with  what  zeal,  to  restore  to  her 
gods  their  lost  honours,  — to  purge  her  worship  of  the  foul 
corruptions  that  were  bringing  it  into  contempt,  and  raise 
it  higher  than  ever  in  the  honour  of  the  people,  by  the 
magnificence  of  the  temples  I  have  built,  by  the  gifts  I  have 
lavished  upon  them,  by  the  ample  riches  wherewith  I  have 
endowed  the  priesthood.  And  more  than  once,  while  this 
work  has  been  achieving,  has  the  form  of  my  revered  parent, 
beautiful  in  the  dazzling  robes  of  her  office,  stood  by  my 
bedside  —  whether  in  dream,  or  in  vision,  or  in  actual 
presence,  I  cannot  tell  —  and  blessed  me  for  my  pious  en 
terprise.  '  The  gods  be  thanked, '  the  lips  have  said  or 
seemed  to  say,  '  that  thy  youth  lasts  not  always,  but  that 
age  has  come,  and  with  it  second  childhood  in  thy  reverence 
of  the  gods,  whose  worship  it  was  mine  to  put  into  thy  in 
fant  heart.  Go  on  thy  way,  my  son  !  Build  up  the  fallen 
altars  of  the  gods,  and  lay  low  the  aspiring  fanes  of  the 
wicked.  Finish  what  thou  hast  begun,  and  all  time  shall 
pronounce  thee  greatest  of  the  great. '  Should  I  disobey 
the  warning?  The  gods  forbid,  and  save  me  from  such 
impiety !  I  am  now,  Piso,  doubly  armed  for  the  work  I 
have  taken  in  hand,  —  first  by  the  zeal  of  the  pious  Fronto ; 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  233 

and  second,  by  the  manifest  finger  of  Heaven  pointing  the 
way  I  should  go.  And,  please  the  gods  I  will  enter  upon 
it,  and  it  shall  not  be  for  want  of  a  determined  will,  and 
of  eyes  too  used  to  the  shedding  of  blood  to  be  frightened 
now,  though  an  ocean-full  were  spilled  before  them,  if  this 
race  be  not  utterly  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  from 
the  suckling  to  the  silver  head,  from  the  beggar  to  the 
prince,  and  from  Eome  all  around  to  the  four  winds,  as  far 
as  her  almighty  arms  can  reach.  " 

My  heart  sank  within  me  as  he  spoke,  and  my  knees 
trembled  under  me.  I  knew  the  power  and  spirit  of  the 
man,  and  I  now  saw  that  superstition  had  claimed  him 
for  her  own,  that  he  would  go  about  his  work  of  death  and 
ruin  armed  with  his  own  cruel  and  bloody  mind,  and  urged 
behind  by  the  fiercer  spirit  still  of  pagan  superstition.  It 
seemed  to  me,  in  spite  of  what  I  had  just  said  myself,  and 
thought  I  believed,  as  if  the  death-note  of  Christianity  had 
now  rung  in  my  ear.  The  voice  of  Aurelian  as  he  spoke 
had  lost  its  usual  sharpness,  and  fallen  into  a  lower  tone, 
full  of  meaning,  and  which  said  to  me  that  his  very  inmost 
soul  was  pouring  out  with  the  awful  words  he  used.  I  felt 
utterly  helpless  and  undone,  —  like  an  ant  in  the  pathway 
of  a  giant,  incapable  of  escape,  resistance,  or  remonstrance. 
I  suppose  all  this  was  visible  in  my  countenance.  I  said 
nothing ;  and  Aurelian,  after  pausing  a  moment,  went  on. 

"  Think  me  not,  Piso,  to  be  using  the  words  of  an  idle 
braggart  in  what  I  have  said.  Who  has  known  Aurelian, 
when  once  he  has  threatened  death,  to  hold  back  his  hand  ? 
But  I  will  give  thee  earnest  of  my  truth !  " 

"  I  require  it  not,  Aurelian.     I  question  not  thy  truth.  " 

"  I  will  give  it  notwithstanding,  Piso.  What  will  you 
think  —  you  will  think  as  you  ever  have  of  me  —  if  I  should 
say  that  already,  and  upon  one  of  my  own  house  infected 
with  this  hell-begotten  atheism,  has  the  axe  fallen !  " 

Hearing  the  horrible  truth  from  his  own  lips,  it  seemed  as 
if  I  had  never  heard  it  before.  I  hardly  had  believed  it. 

"  Tyrant '  "  I  exclaimed,  "  it  cannot  be  !   What,  Aurelia  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Aurelia !     Keep  thy  young  blood  cool,  Piso.     Yes, 


234  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

Amelia !  Ere  I  struck  at  others,  it  behooved  me  to  reprove 
my  own.  It  was  no  easy  service,  as  you  may  guess,  but  it 
must  be  done.  And  not  only  was  Aurelia  herself  perti 
naciously  wedded  to  this  superstition,  but  she  was  subduing 
the  manly  mind  of  Mucapor  too,  who,  had  he  been  success 
fully  wrought  upon,  were  as  good  as  dead  to  me  and  to 
Rome ;  and  he  is  one  whom  our  legions  cannot  spare.  We 
have  Christians  more  than  enough  already  in  our  ranks ;  a 
Christian  general  was  not  to  be  endured.  This  was  addi 
tional  matter  of  accusation  against  Aurelia,  and  made  it 
right  that  she  should  die.  But  she  had  her  free  choice  of 
life,  honour,  rank,  riches,  and,  added  to  all,  Mucapor, 
whose  equal  Rome  does  not  hold,  if  she  would  but  take 
them.  One  word  spoken,  and  they  were  all  her  own  ;  with 
no  small  chance  that  she  should  one  day  be  what  Livia  is. 
But  that  one  word  her  obstinate  superstition  would  not  let 
her  speak.  " 

"  No,  Aurelian ;  there  is  that  in  the  Christian  supersti 
tion  that  always  forbids  the  uttering  of  that  word.  Death 
to  the  Christian  is  but  another  word  for  life.  Apostasy  is 
the  true  death.  You  have  destroyed  the  body  of  Aurelia, 
but  her  virtuous  soul  is  already  with  God,  and  it  is  you 
who  have  girded  upon  her  brow  a  garland  that  shall  never 
fade  away.  Of  that  much  may  you  make  your  boast.  " 

"  Piso,  I  bear  with  you,  and  shall ;  but  there  is  no  other 
in  Eome  who  might  say  so  much. " 

"  Nay,  nay,  Aurelian,  there  I  believe  you  better  than  you 
make  yourself.  To  him  who  is  already  the  victim  of  the 
axe  or  the  beasts  do  you  never  deny  the  liberty  of  the 
tongue,  such  as  it  then  is. " 

"  Upon  Piso,  and  he  the  husband  of  Julia,  I  can  inflict 
no  evil,  nor  permit  it  to  be  done. " 

"  I  would  take  shelter,  Aurelian,  neither  behind  my  own 
name,  my  father's,  nor  my  wife's.  I  am  a  Christian,  and 
such  fate  as  may  befall  the  rest  I  would  share,  —  yet  not 
willingly,  for  life  and  happiness  are  dear  to  me  as  to  you ; 
and  they  are  dear  to  all  these  multitudes  whom  you  do  now, 
in  the  exercise  of  despotic  power,  doom  to  a  sudden  and 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  235 

abhorred  death.  Bethink  yourself,  Aurelian,  before  it  be 
too  late—" 

"  I  have  bethought  myself  of  it  all, "  he  replied ;  "  and 
were  the  suffering  ten  times  more,  and  the  blood  to  be 
poured  out  a  thousand  times  more,  I  would  draw  back  not 
one  step.  The  die  has  been  cast ;  it  has  come  up  as  it  has, 
and  so  must  be  the  game.  I  listen  to  no  appeal. " 

"  Not  from  me, "  I  replied,  "  but  surely  you  will  not  deny 
a  hearing  to  what  these  innocent  people  may  say  in  their 
own  defence.  That  were  neither  just  nor  merciful;  nor 
were  it  like  Aurelian.  There  is  much  which,  by  their 
proper  organs,  they  might  say  to  place  before  you  their 
faith  in  the  light  of  truth.  You  have  heard  what  you  have 
received  concerning  it  chiefly  from  the  lips  of  Fronto ;  and 
can  he  know  what  he  has  never  learned,  or  tell  it  unper- 
verted  by  prejudices  black  as  night  ?  " 

"  I  have  already  said, "  rejoined  the  emperor,  "  that  I 
would  hear  them,  and  I  will.  But  it  can  avail  them  no 
more  than  words  uttered  in  the  breath  of  the  tempest  that 
is  raging  up  from  the  north.  Hear  them !  this  day  have 
I  already  heard  them, —  one  of  those  madmen  of  theirs  who 
plague  the  streets  of  Eome.  Passing  early  by  the  temple 
of  ^Esculapius,  that  one  which  stands  not  an  arrow's  flight 
from  the  column  of  Trajan,  I  came  upon  a  dense  crowd  of 
all  sorts  of  persons,  listening  to  a  gaunt  figure  of  a  man 
who  spoke  to  them.  Soon  as  I  came  against  him,  and  paused 
on  my  horse  for  the  crowd  to  make  way,  the  wild  beast  who 
was  declaiming  shouted  to  me  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  cal 
ling  on  me  to  'hear  the  word  of  God  which  he  would  speak 
to  me. '  Knowing  him  by  such  jargon  to  be  a  Christian,  I 
did  as  he  desired,  and  there  stood,  while  he,  for  my  special 
instruction,  laid  bare  the  iniquities  and  follies  of  the  Eoman 
worship ;  sent  the  priesthood,  and  all  who  entered  their  tem 
ples,  to  the  infernal  regions ;  and  prophesied  against  Eome, 
which  he  termed  Babylon,  that  ere  so  many  centuries  were 
gone  her  walls  would  lie  even  with  the  ground,  her  temples 
moulder  in  ruins,  her  language  become  extinct,  and  her 
people  confounded  with  other  nations  and  lost.  And  all 


236  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

this  because  I,  whom  he  now  called  Ahaz  and  now  Nebu 
chadnezzar,  oppressed  the  children  of  God  and  held  them 
in  captivity ;  while  in  the  same  breath  he  bid  me  come  on 
with  my  chains,  gibbets,  beasts,  crosses,  and  fires,  for  they 
were  ready,  and  would  rejoice  to  bear  their  testimony  in 
the  cause  of  Christ.  As  I  turned  to  resume  my  way,  his 
words  were,  'Go  on,  thou  man  of  pride  and  blood;  go  on 
thy  way  !  The  gates  of  hell  swing  open  for  thee !  Already 
the  arm  of  the  Lord  is  bared  against  thee !  the  winged 
lightning  struggles  in  his  hand  to  smite  thee !  I  hear 
thy  cry  for  mercy  which  no  one  answers  '  —  and  more, 
till  I  was  beyond  the  reach  of  his  owl's  voice.  There 
was  an  appeal,  Piso,  from  this  people.  What  think  you 
of  it  ? " 

"  He  whom  you  heard, "  I  replied,  "  I  know,  and  know 
him  to  be  honest  and  true ;  as  loyal  a  subject,  too,  as  Eome 
holds.  He  is  led  away  by  his  hot  and  hasty  temper  both 
to  do  and  say  what  injures  not  only  him,  but  all  who  are 
joined  with  him,  and  the  cause  he  defends.  He  offends  the 
Christians  not  less  than  others.  Judge  not  all  by  him.  He 
stands  alone.  If  you  would  hear  one  whom  all  alike  confide 
in,  and  who  may  fitly  represent  the  feelings  and  principles 
of  the  whole  body  of  Christians,  send  for  Probus.  From 
him  may  you  learn,  without  exaggeration  or  concealment, 
without  reproach  of  others  or  undue  boasting  of  themselves, 
what  the  Christians  are,  in  their  doctrines  and  their  lives, 
as  citizens  of  Rome  and  loyal  subjects  of  Aurelian,  and 
what  as  citizens  of  heaven  and  loyal  followers  of  Jesus 
Christ.  " 

The  emperor  promised  to  consider  it.  He  had  no  other 
reason  to  deny  such  favour  but  the  tedium  of  listening  to 
what  could  profit  neither  him  nor  others. 

We  then  turned  towards  the  palace,  where  I  saw  Livia, — 
now  as  silent  and  sad  as,  when  in  Palmyra,  she  was  lively 
and  gay.  Not  that  Aurelian  abates  the  least  of  his  wor 
ship,  but  that  the  gloom  which  overshadows  him  imparts  it 
self  to  her  and  that  knowing  what  has  befallen  Aurelia, 
she  cannot  but  feel  it  to  be  a  possible  thing  for  the  blow  to 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  237 

fall  elsewhere  and  nearer.  Yet  is  there  the  same  outward 
show  as  ever.  The  palace  is  still  thronged,  with  not  Eome 
only,  but  by  strangers  from  all  quarters  of  the  empire, 
anxious  to  pay  their  homage  at  once  to  the  Empress  of 
Eome,  to  the  most  beautiful  woman  in  the  world,  —  such 
is  the  language,  —  and  to  a  daughter  of  the  far-famed 
Zenobia. 

The  city  is  now  crowded  with  travellers  of  all  nations  ;  so 
much  so  that  the  inns  can  scarce  receive  them,  and  hardly 
ever  before  was  private  hospitality  so  put  to  all  its  resources. 
With  all,  and  everywhere,  in  the  streets,  at  the  public  baths, 
in  the  porticos,  at  the  private  or  public  banquet,  the  Chris 
tians  are  the  one  absorbing  topic.  And  at  least  this  good 
comes  with  the  evil,  that  thus  the  character  of  this  religion, 
as  compared  with  that  of  Rome  and  other  faiths,  is  made 
known  to  thousands  who  might  otherwise  never  have  heard 
of  it,  or  have  felt  interest  enough  in  it  to  examine  its 
claims.  It  leads  to  a  large  demand  for  and  sale  of  our 
sacred  books.  The  copyists  can  hardly  supply  them  so  fast 
as  they  are  wanted.  For  in  the  case  of  any  dispute  or  con 
versation,  it  is  common  to  hear  the  books  themselves  referred 
to,  and  then  called  in  as  witnesses  for  or  against  a  state 
ment  made.  And  pleasant  enough  is  it  to  see  how  clear 
the  general  voice  is  on  our  side,  especially  with  the 
strangers;  how  indignant  they  are,  for  the  most  part, 
that  violence,  to  the  extreme  of  another  Decian  persecu 
tion,  should  be  so  much  as  dreamt  of.  Would  that  the 
same  could  be  said  of  our  citizens  and  countrymen !  A 
large  proportion  of  them,  indeed,  embrace  the  same  liberal 
sentiments,  but  a  greater  part,  if  not  for  extreme  violence, 
are  yet  for  oppression  and  suppression ;  and  I  dare  not  say 
how  many  for  all  that  Aurelian  himself  designs.  Among 
the  lower  orders  especially,  a  ferocious  and  bloodthirsty 
spirit  breaks  out  in  a  thousand  ways,  that  fills  the  bosom 
both  with  grief  and  terror. 

The  clouds  are  gathering  over  us,  Fausta,  heavy  and 
black,  with  the  tempest  pent  up  within.  The  thunders  are 
rolling  in  the  distance,  and  each  hour  coming  nearer  and 


238  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

nearer.  Whom  the  lightnings  shall  strike,  how  vain  to 
conjecture !  Would  to  God  that  Julia  were  anywhere  but 
here !  For,  to  you  I  may  say  it,  I  cannot  trust  Aurelian, 
—  yes,  Aurelian  himself  I  may,  but  not  Aurelian  the  tool 
of  Fronto.  Farewell. 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  239 


LETTEE  IX. 

FROM   PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

PROBUS'S  OPINION  OF  THE  NEED  OF  PERSECUTION.  —  THE  EDICTS. — 
HANNO'S  DOGS.  —  ASSEMBLING  OF  CHRISTIANS  IN  COUNCIL.  — 
FELIX  AND  PROBUS.  —  PROBUS  CHOSEN  AS  SPOKESMAN  FOR  THE 
CHRISTIANS.  —  INSTRUMENTS  OF  TORTURE.  —  MACER  PULLS 
DOWN  THE  EDICT.  —  THE  JUDGMENT  HALL.  —  THE  TEST.  —  THE 
RACK.  —  THE  MARTYRDOM.  —  MACER'S  FAMILY.  —  ILIA'S  FATE. 
—  THE  BLOODHOUNDS. 

WHEN  I  turned  from  the  palace  of  Aurelian,  and  again 
took  my  way  towards  the  Coelian,  I  did  it  in  the 
belief  that  before  the  day  should  end,  edicts  against  the 
Christians  would  be  published.  I  found,  as  I  conversed 
with  many  whom  I  met  in  the  way,  that  from  other  sources 
the  same  opinion  had  become  common.  In  one  manner  or 
another  it  had  come  abroad  that  measures  had  been  resolved 
upon  by  the  emperor,  and  would  soon  be  put  in  force. 
Many,  indeed,  do  not  give  the  least  credit  to  the  rumours, 
and  believe  that  they  all  spring  from  the  violent  language 
of  Fronto,  which  has  been  reported  as  that  of  Aurelian. 
You  may  wonder  that  there  should  be  such  uncertainty  re 
specting  a  great  design  like  this.  But  you  must  remember 
that  Aurelian  has  of  late  shrouded  himself  in  a  studied 
obscurity.  Not  a  despot  in  the  despotic  lands  of  Asia  keeps 
more  secret  counsel  than  he,  or  leans  less  upon  the  opinion 
or  advice  of  others.  All  that  is  done  throughout  the  vast 
compass  of  the  empire  springs  from  him  alone;  all  the 
affairs  of  foreign  and  dependent  kingdoms  are  arranged  and 
determined  by  him.  As  for  Italy  and  the  capital,  they  are 
mere  playthings  in  his  hand.  You  ask  if  the  senate  does 
not  still  exist.  I  answer,  it  does,  — but  as  a  man  exists 


240  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

whom  a  palsy  has  made  but  half  alive ;  the  body  is  there, 
but  the  soul  is  gone,  and  even  the  body  is  asleep.  The 
senators,  with  all  becoming  gravity,  assemble  themselves 
at  the  Capitol,  and  what  time  they  sleep  not  away  the 
tedious  hours  in  their  ivory  chairs,  they  debate  such  high 
matters  as,  "  Whether  the  tax,  which  this  year  falls  heavy 
upon  Capua  by  reason  of  a  blast  upon  the  grapes,  shall  be 
lightened  or  remitted ;  "  or,  "  Whether  the  petition  of  the 
Milanese,  for  the  construction,  at  the  public  expense,  of  a 
granary  shall  be  answered  favourably ;  "  or,  "  Whether  V. 
P.  Naso  shall  be  granted  a  new  trial  after  defeat  at  the 
highest  court.  "  Not  that  there  is  not  virtue  in  the  senate, 
some  dignity,  some  respect  and  love  for  the  liberties  of 
Eome,  —  witness  myself ;  but  that  the  emperor  has  en 
grossed  the  whole  empire  to  himself,  and  nothing  is  left  for 
that  body  but  to  keep  alive  the  few  remaining  forms  of 
ancient  liberty,  by  assembling  as  formerly,  and  taking  care 
of  whatever  insignificant  affairs  are  entrusted  to  them.  In 
a  great  movement  like  this  against  the  Christians,  Aurelian 
does  not  so  much  as  recognize  their  existence.  No  advice 
is  asked,  no  co-operation.  And  the  less  is  he  disposed  to 
communicate  with  them  in  the  present  instance,  perhaps, 
from  knowing  so  well  that  the  measure  would  find  no  favour 
in  their  eyes,  but  would,  on  the  contrary,  be  violently  op 
posed.  Everything,  accordingly,  originates  in  the  sovereign 
will  of  Aurelian,  and  is  carried  into  effect  by  his  arm  wield 
ing  the  total  power  of  this  boundless  empire, —  being  now, 
what  it  has  been  his  boast  to  make  it,  co-extensive  with 
its  extremest  borders  as  they  were  in  the  time  of  the  Anto- 
nines.  There  is  no  power  to  resist  him ;  nor  are  there 
many  who  dare  to  utter  their  real  opinions,  least  of  all  a 
senator  or  a  noble.  A  beggar  in  the  street  may  do  it  with 
better  chance  of  its  being  respected,  if  agreeable  to  him, 
and  of  escaping  rebuke,  or  worse,  if  it  be  unpalatable.  To 
the  people  he  is  still,  as  ever,  courteous  and  indulgent. 

There  is  throughout  the  city  a  strange  silence  and  gloom, 
as  if  in  expectancy  of  some  great  calamity,  or  of  some  event 
of  dark  and  uncertain  character.  The  Christians  go  about 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  241 

their  affairs  as  usual,  not  ceasing  from  any  labours,  nor 
withdrawing  from  the  scene  of  danger ;  but  with  firm  step 
and  serious  air  keep  on  their  way,  as  if  conscious  of  the 
great  part  which  it  is  theirs  to  act,  and  resolved  that  it 
shall  not  suffer  at  their  hands.  tyEany  with  whom  I  spoke 
put  on  even  a  cheerful  air  as  they  greeted  me,  and  after  the 
usual  morning's  salutation  went  on  as  if  things  were  in 
their  usual  train.  Others,  with  pale  face  and  quivering 
lip,  confessed  the  inward  tumult,  and  that  if  they  feared 
nought  for  themselves,  there  were  those  at  home,  helpless 
and  exposed,  for  whom  the  heart  bled,  and  for  whom  it 
could  not  but  show  signs  of  fear. 

I  met  the  elder  Demetrius.  His  manly  and  thoughtful 
countenance,  though  it  betrayed  nothing  of  weakness,  was 
agitated  with  suppressed  emotion.  He  is  a  man  full  of 
courage,  but  full  of  sensibility  too.  His  affections  are 
warm  and  tender  as  those  of  a  girl.  He  asked  me  "  what  I 
could  inform  him  of  the  truth  of  the  rumours  which  were 
now  afloat  of  the  most  terrific  character.  "  I  saw  where  his 
heart  was  as  he  spoke,  and  answered  him,  as  you  may  be 
lieve,  with  pain  and  reluctance.  I  knew,  indeed,  that  the 
whole  truth  would  soon  break  upon  him.  It  was  a  foolish 
weakness;  but  I  could  hardly  bring  myself  to  tell  him 
what  a  few  hours  would  probably  reveal.  I  told  him, 
however,  all  that  I  had  just  learnt  from  Aurelian  himself, 
and  which,  as  he  made  no  reserve  with  regard  to  me,  nor 
enjoined  concealment,  I  did  not  doubt  was  fully  resolved 
upon,  and  would  be  speedily  put  in  force.  As  I  spoke,  the 
countenance  of  the  Greek  grew  pale  beyond  its  usual  hue 
of  paleness.  He  bent  his  head,  as  in  perplexed  and  anxious 
thought ;  the  tears  were  ready  to  overflow  as  he  raised  it 
after  a  moment,  and  said,  — 

"  Piso,  I  am  but  recently  a  Christian.  I  know  nothing 
of  this  religion  but  its  beauty  and  truth.  It  is  what  I  have 
ever  longed  for,  and  now  that  I  possess  it,  I  value  it  far 
more  than  life.  But"  -he  paused  a  moment  — "I  have 
mingled  but  little  with  the  Christians ;  I  know  scarcely 
any ;  I  am  ignorant  of  what  they  require  of  those  who  be- 

16 


242  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

long  to  their  number  in  such  emergencies.  I  am  ready  to 
die  myself  rather  than  shrink  from  a  bold  acknowledgment 
of  what  in  rny  heart  I  believe  to  be  the  divinest  truth ; 
but  my  wife  and  my  children  !  —  must  they,  too,  meet  these 
dangers  ?  My  wife  has  become  what  I  am ;  my  children 
are  but  infants ;  a  Greek  vessel  sails  to-morrow  for  Scio, 
where  dwells  in  peaceful  security  the  father  of  my  wife, 
from  whom  I  received  her,  almost  to  his  distraction ;  her 
death  would  be  his  immolation.  Should  I  offend —  " 

"  Surely  not, "  I  replied.  "  If,  as  I  believe  will  happen, 
the  edicts  of  the  emperor  should  be  published  to-day,  put 
them  on  board  to-night,  and  let  to-morrow  see  them  floating 
on  the  Mediterranean.  We  are  not  all  to  stand  still  and 
hold  out  throats  to  the  knife  of  this  imperial  butcher. " 

"  God  be  thanked !  "  said  Demetrius,  and  grasping  my 
hand  with  fervour,  turned  quickly  and  moved  in  the  direc 
tion  of  his  home. 

Soon  after,  seated  with  Julia  and  Probus,  —  he  had  joined 
me  as  I  parted  from  Demetrius, —  I  communicated  to  her  all 
that  I  had  heard  at  the  palace.  It  neither  surprised  nor 
alarmed  her.  But  she  could  not  repress  her  grief  at  the 
prospect  spread  out  before  us  of  so  much  suffering  to  the 
innocent. 

"  How  hard  is  this, "  said  she,  "  to  be  called  to  bear  such 
testimony  as  must  now  be  borne  to  truth '  These  Chris 
tian  multitudes,  so  many  of  whom  have  but  just  adopted 
their  new  faith  and  begun  to  taste  of  the  pleasures  it  im 
parts,  all  enjoying  in  such  harmony  and  quietness  their 
rich  blessings, — with  many  their  only  blessings, — how 
hard  for  them,  all  at  once,  to  see  the  foundations  of  their 
peace  broken  up,  and  their  very  lives  clamoured  for !  rulers 
and  people  setting  upon  them  as  troops  of  wild  beasts !  It 
demands  almost  more  faith  than  I  can  boast,  to  sit  here 
without  complaint  a  witness  of  such  wrong.  How  strange, 
Probus,  that  life  should  be  made  so  difficult,  — that  not  a 
single  possession  worth  having  can  be  secured  without  so 
much  either  of  labour  or  endurance !  I  wonder  if  this  is 
ever  to  cease  on  earth.  " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  243 

"  I  can  hardly  suppose  that  it  will, "  said  Probus.  "  La 
bour  and  suffering,  in  some  of  their  forms,  seem  both 
essential  to  the  perfection  of  man.  My  arm  would  be 
weak  as  a  rush  were  it  never  moved;  but  exercised,  and 
you  see  it  is  nervous  and  strong;  plied  like  a  smith's,  and 
it  grows  to  be  hard  as  iron  and  capable  of  miracles.  So  it 
is  with  any  faculty  of  the  mind  you  may  select ;  the  harder 
it  is  tasked  the  more  worthy  it  becomes ;  and  without  task 
ing  at  all,  it  is  worth  nothing.  So  seems  to  me  it  is  with 
the  whole  character.  In  a  smooth  and  even  lot  its  worth 
never  would  be  known,  and  we  should  respect  it  neither  in 
ourselves  nor  in  others.  Greatness  and  worth  come  only  of 
collision  and  conflict.  Let  our  path  be  strewed  with  roses, 
and  soft  southern  gales  ever  blow,  and  earth  send  up  of  her 
own  accord  our  ready-prepared  nutriment,  and  mankind 
would  be  but  one  huge  multitude  of  Sybarites,  dissolved  in 
sloth  and  effeminacy.  If  no  difficulty  opposed,  no  labour 
were  exacted,  both  body  and  mind  were  dead.  Hence  it  is, 
we  may  believe,  that  man  must  everywhere  labour  even  for 
the  food  which  is  necessary  to  mere  existence.  Life  is  made 
dear  to  us  by  an  instinct;  we  shrink  from  nothing  as  we 
do  from  the  mere  thought  of  non-existence;  but  still  it  is 
death  or  toil,  —  that  is  the  alternative.  So  that  labour  is 
thus  insured  wherever  man  is  found,  and  it  is  this  that 
makes  him  what  he  is.  Then  he  is  made,  moreover,  so  as 
to  crave  not  only  food,  but  knowledge  as  much,  and  also 
virtue ;  but  between  him  and  both  these  objects  there  are 
interposed,  for  the  same  reason,  doubtless,  mountains  of 
difficulty,  which  he  must  clamber  up  and  over,  before  he 
can  bask  in  the  pleasant  fields  that  lie  beyond,  and  then 
ascend  the  distant  mountain-tops,  from  which  but  a  single 
step  removes  him  from  the  abode  of  God.  Doubt  it  not, 
lady,  that  it  is  never  in  vain  and  for  nought  that  man 
labours  and  suffers ;  but  that  the  good  which  redounds  is 
in  proportion  to  what  is  undergone,  and  more  than  a  com 
pensation.  If  in  these  times  of  darkness  and  fear,  suffering 
is  more,  goodness  and  faith  are  more  also.  There  are  Chris 
tians  and  men  made  by  such  trials,  that  are  never  made 


244  LETTERS  FKOM  ROME. 

elsewhere  or  otherwise,  nor  can  be;  just  as  the  arm  of  Her 
cules  could  not  be  but  by  the  labours  of  Hercules.  What 
says  Macer  ?  Why,  even  this,  that  God  is  to  be  thanked 
for  this  danger,  for  that  the  Church  needs  it.  The  brief 
prosperity  it  has  enjoyed  since  the  time  of  Valerian  and 
Macrianus  has  corrupted  it,  and  it  must  be  purged  anew, 
and  tried  by  fire  !  I  think  not  that ;  but  I  think  this,  that 
if  suffering  ever  so  extreme  is  ordained,  there  will  be  a 
virtue  begotten  in  the  souls  of  the  sufferers,  and  abroad 
through  them,  that  shall  prove  it  not  to  have  been  in 


e> 

vain. 

M 


I  can  believe  what  you  say, "  said  Julia ;  "  at  least  I 
can  believe  in  the  virtue  ascribed  to  labour  and  the  col 
lision  with  difficulty.  Suffering  is  passive  ,  may  it  not  be 
that  we  may  come  to  place  too  much  merit  in  this  ?  " 

"  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  we  may, "  replied  Probus. 
"  The  temptation  to  do  so  is  great.  It  is  easy  to  suffer.  In 
comparison  with  labour  and  duty  —  life-long  labour  and  duty 
—  it  is  a  light  service.  Yet  it  carries  with  it  an  imposing 
air,  and  is  too  apt  to  take  to  itself  all  the  glory  of  the 
Christian's  course.  Many  who  have  lived  as  Christians 
but  indifferently  have,  in  the  hour  of  persecution,  and  in 
the  heat  of  that  hour,  rushed  upon  death,  and  borne  it  well, 
and  before  it  extremest  torture,  and  gained  the  crown  of 
martyrdom  and  the  name  of  saint,  — a  crown  not  always 
without  spot,  a  name  not  always  holy.  He  who  suffers 
for  Christ  must  suffer  with  simplicity,  even  as  he  has  lived 
with  simplicity.  And  when  he  has  lived  so,  and  endured 
the  martyr's  death  at  last,  that  is  to  be  accounted  but  the 
last  of  many  acts  of  duty  which  are  essentially  alike ,  un 
less  it  may  be  that  in  many  a  previous  conflict  over  temp 
tation,  and  the  world,  and  sin,  there  was  a  harder  victory 
won,  and  a  harder  duty  done,  than  when  the  flames  con 
sumed  him,  or  the  beasts  tore  him  limb  from  limb.  " 

"  Yet,  Probus, "  continued  Julia,  "  among  the  humble 
and  the  ignorant,  where  we  cannot  suppose  that  vanity 
could  operate,  where  men  have  received  Christianity  only 
because  it  seemed  to  them  just  the  faith  they  needed,  and 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  245 

then,  when  it  has  been  required  that  they  renounce  it, 
they  will  not  do  it,  but  hold  steadfastly  to  what  they  re 
gard  the  truth  of  God,  and  for  it  take  with  meekness  and 
patience  all  manner  of  torture,  and  death  itself,  —  there  is 
surely  here  great  virtue.  Suffering  here  has  great  worth, 
and  sets  upon  the  soul  the  seal  of  God.  Is  it  not  so  ?  " 

"  Most  assuredly  it  is, "  answered  Probus.  "  Oh,  there 
is  no  virtue  on  earth  greater  than  theirs.  When,  dragged 
from  their  quiet  homes,  unknown,  obscure,  despised, 
solitary,  with  not  one  sympathizing  eye  to  look  on  upon 
their  sufferings,  with  none  to  record  their  name,  none 
to  know  it,  even,  they  do,  nevertheless,  without  falter 
ing,  keep  true  to  their  faith,  hugging  it  to  them  the  closer 
the  more  it  is  tried  to  tear  them  asunder,  —  this,  this  is 
virtue  the  greatest  on  earth.  It  is  a  testimony  borne  to 
the  truth  of  whatever  cause  is  thus  supported,  that  is  daily 
bringing  forth  its  fruits  in  the  conviction  and  conversion 
of  multitudes.  It  is  said  that  in  the  Decian  persecution 
it  was  the  fortitude  and  patience,  under  the  most  cruel  suf 
ferings,  of  those  humble  Christians  whom  no  one  knew, 
who  came  none  knew  whence,  and  who  were  dying  out  of 
a  pure  inward  love  of  the  faith  they  professed,  that  fell 
upon  the  hearts  of  admiring  thousands  with  more  than  the 
force  of  miracle,  and  was  the  cause  of  the  great  and  sudden 
growth  of  our  numbers  which  then  took  place.  Still,  suf 
fering  and  dying  for  a  faith  is  not  unimpeachable  evidence 
of  its  truth.  There  have  been  those  who  have  died  and 
suffered  for  idolatries  the  most  abhorred.  It  is  proof,  in 
deed,  not  at  all  of  truth  itself,  but  only  of  the  deep  sin 
cerity  of  him  who  professes  it. " 

"  Yes, "  replied  Julia,  "  I  see  that  it  is  so.  But  then  it 
is  a  presumption  in  behalf  of  truth,  strong  almost  as  mira 
cles  done  for  it,  when  so  many,  multitudes,  in  different 
ages,  in  the  humblest  condition  of  life,  hesitate  not  to  die 
rather  than  renounce  their  faith  in  a  religion  like  this  of 
Christianity,  which  panders  to  not  one  of  man's  passions, 
appetites,  or  weaknesses,  but  is  the  severest  censor  of 
morals  the  world  has  ever  seen;  which  requires  a  virtue 


246  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

and  a  purity  in  its  disciples  such  as  no  philosopher  ever 
dared  to  impose  upon  his  scholars  ;  and  whose  only  promise 
is  immortality,  and  even  that  an  immortality  never  to  be 
separated  from  the  idea  of  retribution,  as  making  a  part  of 
it.  They  who  will  suffer  and  die  for  such  a  religion,  do 
by  that  act  work  as  effectively  for  it  as  their  Master  by  the 
signs  and  wonders  which  he  did.  If  Christianity  were  like 
many  of  the  forms  of  Paganism :  or  if  it  ministered  to  the 
cravings  of  our  sensual  nature,  as  we  can  conceive  a  religion 
might ;  if  it  made  the  work  of  life  light,  and  the  reward 
certain  and  glorious ;  if  it  relieved  its  followers  of  much  of 
the  suffering,  and  fear,  and  doubt,  that  oppress  others,  — 
it  would  not  be  surprising  that  men  should  bear  much  for 
its  sake ,  and  their  doing  so,  for  what  appealed  so  to  their 
selfishness,  would  be  no  evidence,  at  all  to  be  trusted,  of 
its  truth.  But  as  it  is,  they  who  die  for  it  afford  a  pre 
sumption  in  behalf  of  it  that  assails  the  reason  almost,  or 
quite,  with  the  force  of  demonstration.  So,  I  remember 
well,  my  reason  was  impressed  by  what  I  used  to  hear  from 
Paul  of  the  sufferings  of  the  early  Christians. " 

While  Julia  had  been  saying  these  things,  it  had  seemed 
to  me  as  if  there  was  an  unusual  commotion  in  the  streets ; 
and  as  she  ended  I  was  about  to  look  for  the  cause  of  it, 
when  the  hasty  steps  of  several  running  through  the  hall 
leading  from  the  main  entrance  of  the  house  prevented  me, 
and  Milo,  breathless,  followed  by  others  of  the  household, 
rushed  into  the  apartment  where  we  sat,  he  exclaiming, 
with  every  mark  of  fear  and  horror  upon  his  countenance  : 

"  Ah,  sir !  it  is  all  just  as  I  was  told  by  Curio  it  would 
be ;  the  edicts  are  published  on  the  Capitol.  The  people 
are  going  about  the  streets  now  in  crowds,  talking  loud  and 
furiously  ;  and  before  night  they  say  the  Christians  will  all 
be  delivered  to  their  pleasure. " 

Soon  as  Milo  could  pause,  I  asked  him  if  he  had  read  or 
seen  the  edicts. 

"  No,  I  have  not, "  he  answered ;  "  I  heard  from  Curio 
what  they  were  to  be. " 

I  told  Julia  and  Probus  that  such  I  did  not  believe  was 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  247 

their  tenor,  —  it  did  not  agree  with  usage,  nor  with  what  I  had 
gathered  from  Aurelian  of  his  designs,  —  but  that  their  im 
port  was  probably  no  more  than  deprivation  of  a  portion  of 
their  freedom  and  of  some  of  their  privileges.  It  was  the 
purpose  of  Aurelian  first  to  convert  back  again  the  erring 
multitudes  to  paganism,  for  which  time  must  be  granted. 

But  my  words  had  no  effect  to  calm  the  agitation  of  our 
slaves,  who,  filled  with  terror  at  the  reports  of  Milo  and 
at  the  confusion  in  the  streets,  had  poured  into  the  room, 
and  were  showing  in  a  thousand  ways  their  affection  for  us, 
and  their  concern.  Some  of  this  number  are  Christians, 
having  been  made  so  by  the  daily  conversations  which 
Julia  has  had  with  them,  and  the  instruction  she  has  given 
them  in  the  gospels.  Most,  however,  are  still  of  that  re 
ligion  in  which  they  were  reared,  as  they  are  natives  of  the 
East,  of  the  North,  or  of  Africa.  But  by  all,  with  slight 
differences,  was  the  same  interest  manifested  in  our  safety. 
They  were  ready  to  do  anything  for  our  protection;  and 
chiefly  urgent  were  they  that  we  should  that  very  night 
escape  from  Rome, —  they  could  remain  in  security  and  de 
fend  the  palace.  When  they  had  thus  in  their  simple  way 
given  free  expression  to  their  affections,  I  assured  them 
that  no  immediate  danger  impended,  but  even  if  it  did,  I 
should  not  fly  from  it,  but  should  remain  where  I  was ; 
that  the  religion  for  which  I  might  suffer  was  worth  to 
those  who  held  it  a  great  deal  more  than  mere  life ;  we 
could  easily  sacrifice  life  for  it  if  that  should  be  required. 
Some  seemed  to  understand  this,  others  not;  but  they  then 
retired,  silent  and  calm,  because  they  saw  that  we  were  so. 

Soon  as  they  were  withdrawn,  I  proposed  to  Probus  that 
we  should  go  forth  and  learn  the  exact  truth.  We  accord 
ingly  passed  to  the  street,  which,  as  it  is  one  that  forms 
the  principal  avenue  from  this  part  of  the  city  to  the  Capi 
tol,  we  found  alive  with  numbers  greater  than  usual,  with 
their  faces  turned  toward  that  quarter.  We  joined  them, 
and  moved  with  them  in  the  same  direction.  It  was  a  fear 
ful  thing,  Fausta,  even  to  me,  who  am  rarely  disturbed  by 
any  event,  to  listen  to  the  language  which  fell  on  my  ear 


248  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

on  all  sides  from  the  lips  of  beings  who  wore  the  same  form 
as  myself,  and  with  me  have  a  right  to  the  name  of  man. 
It  was  chiefly  that  of  exultation  and  joy,  that  at  length  the 
power  of  the  state  was  about  to  strike  at  the  root  of  this 
growing  evil,  — that  one  had  taken  hold  of  the  work  who 
would  not  leave  it,  as  others  had,  half  accomplished,  but 
would  finish  it  as  he  had  every  other  to  which  he  had  put 
his  hand. 

"  Now  we  shall  see  what  one  whose  hand  bears  the  sword 
of  a  true  soldier  can  do,  and  whether  he  who  has  slain  more 
foes  of  Eome  abroad  than  emperor  before  ever  did,  cannot 
do  as  well  by  enemies  at  home. " 

"  Never  doubt  it, "  said  another.  "  Before  the  ides  of  the 
month  now  just  come  in,  not  a  Christian  will  be  seen  in  the 
streets  of  Eome.  They  will  be  swept  out  as  clean  as  by 
Varus  they  now  are  of  other  filth.  The  prefect  is  just  the 
man  for  the  times.  Aurelian  could  not  have  been  better 
matched.  " 

"  Lucky  this, "  said  still  another,  as  he  hurried  away, 
"  is  it  not  ?  Three  vessels  arrived  yesterday,  stowed  thick 
with  wild  beasts  from  Africa  arid  Asia.  By  the  gods, 
there  will  be  no  starving  for  them  now !  The  only  fear 
will  be  that,  gorged  so,  they  will  lose  their  spirit. " 

"  I  don't  fear  that,"  said  his  older  companion.  "Ire- 
member  well  the  same  game  twenty-five  years  ago.  The 
fact  was  then  that  the  taste  of  human  blood  whetted  it  for 
more  and  more,  and,  though  glutted,  their  rage  seemed  but 
to  become  more  savage  still ;  so  that,  though  hunger  was 
fed  to  the  full,  and  more,  they  fell  upon  fresh  victims  with 
increased  fury, —  with  a  sort  of  madness,  as  it  were.  Such 
food,  't  is  said,  crazes  them.  " 

Others  were  soon  next  us,  from  whom  I  heard,  — 

"  Let  every  soul  perish  —  I  care  not  for  that.  Or  rather, 
I  do.  Let  all  die,  I  say ;  but  not  in  this  savage  way.  Let 
it  be  done  by  a  proper  accusation,  trial,  and  judgment.  Let 
profession  of  atheism  be  death  by  a  law,  and  let  the  law  be 
executed,  and  the  name  will  soon  die.  Inevitable  death 
under  a  law  for  any  one  who  assumes  the  name  would  soon 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  249 

do  the  work  of  extermination,  —  better  than  this  universal 
slaughter  which  I  hear  is  to  be  the  way.  Thousands  are 
then  overlooked  in  the  blind  popular  fury ;  the  work  by 
and  by  ceases  through  weariness ;  it  is  thought  to  be  com 
pleted,  —  when  lo !  as  the  first  fury  of  the  storm  is  spent, 
they  come  forth  from  their  hiding-places,  and  things  are 
but  little  better  than  before.  " 

K  I  think  with  you, "  said  the  younger  companion  of  him 
who  had  just  spoken,  "  and  besides,  Komans  need  not  the 
further  instruction  in  the  art  of  assassination  which  such  a 
service  would  impart.  Already  nothing  comes  so  like 
nature  to  a  Eoman  as  to  kill,  — kill  something;  if  not  a 
beast,  a  slave ;  if  there  is  no  slave  at  hand,  a  Christian ; 
if  no  Christian,  a  citizen.  One  would  think  we  sucked  in 
from  our  mothers,  not  milk,  but  blood.  If  the  state  cannot 
stand  secure,  as  our  great  men  say,  but  by  the  destruction 
of  this  people,  in  the  name  of  the  gods  let  the  executioners 
do  the  work,  —  not  our  sons,  brothers,  and  fathers.  So, 
too,  I  say,  touching  the  accursed  games  at  the  Flavian  and 
elsewhere.  What  is  the  effect  but  to  make  of  us  a  nation 
of  man-butchers  ?  —  as,  by  the  gods,  we  already  are.  If  the 
gods  send  not  something  or  somebody  to  mend  us,  we  shall 
presently  fall  upon  one  another  and  exterminate  ourselves.  " 

"  Who  knows  but  it  is  this  very  religion  of  the  Chris 
tians  that  has  been  sent  for  that  work  ?  "  said  a  third  who 
had  joined  the  two.  "  The  Christians  are  famed  for  nothing 
more  than  for  their  gentleness  and  care  of  one  another;  so 
at  least  I  hear.  " 

"  Who  knows,  indeed  ?  "  said  the  other.  "  If  it  be  so, 
pity  it  were  not  found  out  soon.  Aurelian  will  make  short 
work  with  them. " 

In  the  midst  of  such  conversation,  which  on  every  side 
caught  our  ears  as  we  walked  silently  along,  we  came  at 
length  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Capitol ;  but  so  great 
was  the  throng  of  the  people,  who  in  Some  have  nought 
else  to  do  but  to  rush  together  upon  every  piece  of  news, 
that  we  could  not  even  come  within  sight  of  the  building, 
much  less  of  the  parchment. 


250  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

We  accordingly  waited  patiently  to  learn  from  some  who 
might  emerge  from  the  crowd  what  the  precise  amount  of 
the  edicts  might  be.  We  stood  not  long  before  one,  strug 
gling  and  pushing  about  at  all  adventures,  red  and  puffing 
with  his  efforts,  extricated  himself  from  the  mass,  and  ad 
justing  his  dress,  which  was  half  torn  from  his  back,  be 
gan  swearing  and  cursing  the  emperor  and  his  ministers 
for  a  parcel  of  women  and  fools. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  we  asked,  gathering  about  him.  "  What 
have  you  seen  ?  Did  you  reach  the  pillar  ?  " 

"  Eeach  it  ?  I  did ;  but  my  cloak,  that  cost  yesterday 
ten  good  aurelians,  did  not,  and  here  I  stand  cloakless  —  " 

"  Well,  but  the  edicts  ?  " 

"  Well,  but  the  edicts  !  Be  not  in  a  hurry,  friend ;  they 
are  worth  not  so  much  as  my  cloak.  Blank  parchment  were 
just  as  good.  I  wonder  old  'Sword-in-hand  '  didn't  hang 
up  a  strip ;  't  would  have  saved  the  expense  of  a  scrivener. 
If  any  of  you  hear  of  a  cloak  found  hereabouts,  blue  with 
out,  and  lined  with  yellow,  and  trimmed  with  gold,  please 
to  note  the  name  sewed  on  beneath  the  left  shoulder,  and 
send  it  according  to  the  direction,  and  your  labour  shall 
not  be  lost. " 

"  But  the  edicts  —  the  edicts  ?  " 

"  Oh,  the  edicts  !  why,  they  are  just  this :  the  Christians 
are  told  that  they  must  neither  assemble  together  in  their 
houses  of  worship  to  hear  their  priests,  nor  turn  the  streets 
into  places  of  worship  in  their  stead ;  but  leave  off  all  their 
old  ways  just  as  fast  as  they  can,  and  worship  the  gods. 
There  's  an  edict  for  you  ! " 

"  Who  is  this  ?  "  said  one  to  Probus. 

"  I  do  not  know ;  he  seems  sadly  disappointed  at  the  em 
peror's  clemency,  as  he  deems  it.  " 

But  what  Probus  did  not  know,  another  who  at  the  mo 
ment  came  up  did,  —  exclaiming,  as  he  slapped  the  disap 
pointed  man  on  the  shoulder,  — 

"  What,  old  fellow,  you  here  ?  —  always  where  mischief 
is  brewing !  But  who  ever  saw  you  without  Nero  and 
Sylla  ?  What  has  happened  ?  —  and  no  cloak  either  ?  " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  251 

"  Nero  and  Sylla  are  in  their  den ;  for  my  cloak,  I  fear  it 
is  in  a  worse  place.  But  come,  give  me  your  arm,  and  let 
us  return.  I  thought  a  fine  business  was  opening,  and  so 
ran  up  to  see.  But  it's  all  a  sham.  " 

"  It's  only  put  off,"  said  his  companion,  as  they  walked 
away ;  "  your  dogs  will  have  enough  to  do  before  the  month 
is  half  out  —  if  Fronto  knows  anything.  " 

"  That  is  one,  I  see, ;>  said  he  who  had  spoken  to  Probus, 
"  who  breeds  hounds  for  the  theatres ;  I  thought  I  had  seen 
him  before.  His  ordinary  stock  is  not  less  than  five  hun 
dred  bloodhounds.  He  married  the  sister  of  the  gladiator 
Sosia.  His  name  is  Hanno.  " 

Having  heard  enough,  we  turned  away  and  sought  again 
the  Coelian.  You  thus  see,  Fausta,  what  Eome  is  made  of, 
and  into  what  hands  we  may  all  come.  Do  you  wonder  at 
my  love  of  Christianity,  —  at  my  zeal  for  its  progress  ? 
Unless  it  prosper,  unless  it  take  root  and  spread  through 
this  people,  their  fate  is  sealed,  —  to  my  mind  with  the 
same  certainty  as  if  I  saw  their  doom  written  upon  the 
midnight  sky  in  letters  of  fire. 

Their  own  wickedness  will  break  them  in  pieces,  and 
destroy  them.  It  is  a  weight  beneath  which  no  society  can 
stand.  It  must  give  way  in  general  anarchy  and  ruin.  But 
my  trust  is  that,  in  spite  of  Aurelian  and  of  all  other  power, 
this  faith  will  go  on  its  way,  and  so  infuse  itself  into  the 
mass  as  never  to  be  dislodged,  and  work  out  its  perfect 
regeneration. 

By  this  decree  of  the  emperor,  then,  which  was  soon 
published  in  every  part  of  the  capital,  the  Christians  are 
prohibited  from  assembling  together  for  purposes  of  wor 
ship  ;  their  churches  are  closed,  and  their  preachers 
silenced. 

One  day  intervenes  between  this  and  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  the  day  on  which  the  Christians,  as  you  may  per 
haps  know,  assemble  for  their  worship.  In  the  mean 
time,  it  will  be  determined  what  course  shall  be  pursued. 

Those  days  have  passed,  Fausta,  and  before  I  seal  my 
letter  I  will  add  to  it  an  account  of  them. 


252  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

Immediately  upon  the  publication  of  the  emperor's  de 
crees,  the  Christians  throughout  the  city  communicated 
with  each  other,  and  resolved,  their  places  of  worship  being 
all  closed  and  guarded,  to  assemble  secretly,  in  some  spot 
to  be  selected,  both  for  worship  and  to  determine  what  was 
to  be  done,  if  anything,  to  shield  themselves  from  the 
greater  evils  which  threatened.  The  place  selected  was 
the  old  ruins  where  the  house  of  Macer  stands.  "  There 
still  remains,  *  so  Macer  urged,  "  a  vast  circular  apartment, 
partly  below  and  partly  above  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
of  massy  walls,  without  windows,  remote  from  the  streets, 
and  so  surrounded  by  fallen  walls,  and  columns,  and  rub 
bish,  as  to  be  wholly  buried  from  the  sight.  "  The  entrance 
to  it  was  through  his  dwelling,  and  the  rooms  beyond. 
Kesorting  thither  when  it  should  be  dark,  and  seeking  his 
house  singly  and  by  different  avenues  among  the  ruins, 
there  would  be  little  chance  of  observation  and  disturb 
ance.  Macer's  counsel  was  accepted. 

On  the  evening  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  —  a  day 
which,  since  I  had  returned  from  the  East  to  Eome,  had 
ever  come  to  me  laden  with  both  pleasure  and  profit  —  I 
took  my  way,  under  cover  of  a  night  without  star  or  moon, 
and  doubly  dark  by  reason  of  clouds  that  hung  black  and 
low,  to  the  appointed  place  of  assembly.  The  cold  winds 
of  autumn  were  driving  in  fitful  blasts  through  the  streets, 
striking  a  chill  into  the  soul  as  well  as  the  body.  They 
seemed  ominous  of  that  black  and  bitter  storm  that  was 
even  now  beginning  to  break  in  sorrow  and  death  upon  the 
followers  of  Christ.  Before  I  reached  the  ruins,  the  rain 
fell  in  heavy  drops,  and  the  wind  was  rising  and  swelling 
into  a  tempest.  It  seemed  to  me,  in  the  frame  I  was  then 
in,  better  than  a  calm.  It  was,  moreover,  a  wall  of  de 
fence  against  such  as  might  be  disposed  to  track  and 
betray  us. 

Entering  by  the  door  of  Macer's  cell,  I  passed  through 
many  dark  and  narrow  apartments,  following  the  noise  of 
the  steps  of  some  who  were  going  before  me,  till  at  length 
I  emerged  into  the  vaulted  hall  spoken  of  by  Macer. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  253 

It  was  lofty  and  spacious,  and  already  filled  with  figures 
of  men  and  women,  whom  the  dim  light  of  a  few  lamps, 
placed  upon  the  fragments  of  the  fallen  architecture,  just 
enabled  me  to  discern,  and  distinguish  from  the  masses  of 
marble  and  broken  columns  which  strewed  the  interior, 
and  which,  when  they  afforded  a  secure  footing,  were  cov 
ered  with  the  assembled  worshippers.  The  footsteps  of 
those  who  were  the  last  to  enter  soon  died  away  upon  the 
ear,  and  deep  silence  ensued,  unbroken  by  any  sound  save 
that  of  the  sighs  and  weeping  of  such  as  could  not  restrain 
their  feelings. 

It  was  interrupted  by  the  voice  of  one  who  said  that 
the  Christians  of  Eome  were  assembled  here  by  agree 
ment,  to  consult  together  concerning  their  affairs,  which 
now,  by  reason  of  the  sudden  hostility  of  Aurelian, 
set  on  by  the  pagan  priesthood,  had  assumed  a  dark  and 
threatening  aspect.  It  was  needful  so  to  consult,  that  it 
might  be  well  ascertained  whether  no  steps  could  be  taken 
to  ward  off  the  impending  evil,  and  if  not,  in  what  manner 
and  to  what  extent  we  might  be  able  to  protect  ourselves. 
"  But  before  this  be  done, "  he  continued,  "  let  us  all  first, 
with  one  heart,  seek  the  blessing  of  God.  To-day,  Chris 
tians,  for  the  first  time  within  the  memory  of  the  younger 
portion  of  this  assembly,  have  we  by  the  wicked  power  of 
the  state  been  shut  out  of  those  temples  where  we  have  been 
wont  to  offer  up  our  seventh-day  worship.  Here  there  is 
none  to  alarm  or  interrupt.  Let  us  give  our  first  hour  to 
God.  So  shall  the  day  not  be  lost,  nor  the  enemy  wholly 
prevail.  " 

"  That  is  right, "  said  another.  "  It  is  what  we  all  wish. 
Let  Probus  speak  to  us  and  pray  for  us. " 

"  Felix !  Felix  !  "  cried  other  voices  in  different  parts  of 
the  room. 

"  Not  so,  but  Probus !  Probus !  "  shouted  a  far  greater 
number. 

"  Who  does  not  know, "  cried  a  shrill  voice  elevated  to 
its  utmost  pitch,  "  that  Probus  is  a  follower  of  Paul  of 
Samosata  ? " 


254  LETTERS    FROM  ROME. 

"  And  who  does  not  know, "  responded  he  who  had  first 
spoken,  "  that  Felix  follows  after  Plato  and  Plotinus  ?  - 
pagans  both !  " 

"  And  what, "  said  the  sharp  voice  of  Macer,  "  what  if 
both  be  true  ?  Who  dare  say  that  Felix  is  not  a  Christian  ? 
Who  dare  say  that  Probus  is  not  a  Christian  ?  And  if  they 
are  Christians,  who  shall  dare  to  say  they  may  not  speak 
to  Christians?  Probus  was  first  asked,  and  let  Probus 
stand  forth. " 

The  name  of  Probus  was  then  uttered  as  it  were  by  the 
whole  assembly. 

As  he  moved  toward  a  more  central  and  elevated  spot, 
the  same  mean  and  shrill  voice  that  had  first  charged  him 
again  was  heard,  advising  that  no  hymn  nor  chant  be  sung. 
"  The  Eoman  watch  is  now  abroad,  and  despite  the  raging 
of  the  storm,  their  ears  may  catch  the  sound,  and  the  guard 
be  upon  us. " 

"  Let  them  come,  then !  "  shouted  Macer ;  "  let  them 
come !  Shall  any  fear  of  man  or  of  death  frighten  us  away 
from  the  worship  of  God  ?  What  death  more  glorious  than 
if  this  moment  those  doors  gave  way,  and  the  legions  of 
Aurelian  poured  in  ?  Praise  God  and  Christ,  Christians,  in 
the  highest  note  you  can  raise,  and  let  no  cowardice  seal 
your  lips  or  abate  your  breath. " 

The  voice  of  Probus,  now  heard  in  prayer,  brought  a  deep 
silence  upon  the  assembly,  and  I  would  fain  believe,  har 
mony  and  peace  also  into  the  spirits  of  all  who  were  there. 
It  was  a  service  deeply  moving  and  greatly  comforting. 
Whatever  any  who  were  present  might  have  thought  of  the 
principles  of  Probus,  all  must  have  been  penetrated  and 
healed  by  that  devout  and  benevolent  temper  that  was  so 
manifest  in  the  sentiments  he  uttered,  and  in  the  very 
tones  of  his  voice. 

No  sooner  had  he  ended  his  prayer  than  the  voice  of 
Macer  broke  forth  commencing  a  chant  commonly  heard  in 
the  churches,  and  with  which  all  were  familiar.  His  voice, 
louder  than  that  of  the  storm,  and  shriller  than  the  blast 
of  a  war-trumpet,  rang  through  the  vast  apartment,  and  in- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  255 

spiring  all  who  were  there  with  the  same  courage  that  pos 
sessed  himself,  their  voices  were  instinctively  soon  joined 
with  his,  and  the  hymn  swelled  upward  with  a  burst  of 
harmony  that  seemed  as  if  it  might  reach  heaven  itself. 
Eome  and  its  legions  were  then  as  if  they  did  not  exist. 
God  only  was  present  to  the  mind,  and  the  thoughts  with 
which  that  hymn  filled  it.  Its  burden  was  like  this :  - 

"  0  God  Almighty,  God  of  Christ  our  Lord,  arise  and 
defend  thy  people.  The  terrors  of  death  are  around  us, 
the  enemies  of  truth  and  thy  Son  assail  us,  and  we  faint 
and  are  afraid.  Their  hosts  are  encamped  against  us ; 
they  are  ready  to  devour  us.  Our  hope  is  in  thee ; 
strengthen  and  deliver  us.  Arise,  O  God,  and  visit  us 
with  thy  salvation.  " 

These  and  words  like  them,  repeated  with  importunity 
and  dwelt  upon,  the  whole  soul  pouring  itself  out  with  the 
notes,  while  tears  ran  down  the  cheeks  of  those  who  sang, 
—  the  sign  not  of  weakness,  but  of  the  strength  of  those 
affections  which  bound  their  hearts  to  God,  to  Christ,  and 
to  one  another, —  it  seemed  as  if  such  words,  and  so  uttered, 
could  not  but  reach  the  throne  of  heaven,  and  draw  a  bless 
ing  down.  As  the  hymn  drew  to  a  close,  and  the  sounds 
died  away,  deep  silence  again  fell  upon  the  assembly.  The 
heart  had  been  relieved  by  the  service ;  the  soul  had  been 
rapt  and  borne  quite  away ;  and  by  a  common  feeling  an 
interval  of  rest  ensued,  which  by  each  seemed  to  be  devoted 
to  meditation  and  prayer.  This,  when  it  had  lasted  till 
the  wants  of  each  had  been  satisfied,  was  broken  by  the 
voice  of  Probus. 

What  he  said  was  wonderfully  adapted  to  infuse  fresh 
courage  into  every  heart,  and  especially  to  cheer  and  sup 
port  the  desponding  and  the  timid.  He  held  up  before 
them  the  great  examples  of  those  who  in  the  earlier  ages  of 
the  Church  had  offered  themselves  as  sacrifices  upon  the 
same  altar  upon  which  the  great  Head  of  the  Christians  had 
laid  down  his  life.  He  made  it  apparent  how  it  had  ever 
been  through  suffering  of  some  kind  on  the  part  of  some 
that  great  benefits  had  been  conferred  upon  mankind ;  that 


256  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 


they  who  would  be  benefactors  of  their  race  must  be  willing 
cheerfully  to  bear  the  evil  and  suffering  that  in  so  great 
part  constitutes  that  office ;  and  was  it  not  a  small  thing 
to  suffer,  and  that  in  the  body  only,  and  but  for  a  moment, 
if  by  such  means  great  and  permanent  blessings  to  the  souls 
of  men  might  be  secured,  and  remotest  ages  of  the  world 
made  to  rejoice  and  nourish  through  the  effects  of  their 
labours  ?  Every  day  of  their  worship  they  were  accus 
tomed  to  hear  sung  or  recited  the  praises  of  those  who 
had  died  for  Christ  and  truth ;  men  of  whom  the  world  was 
not  worthy,  and  who,  beautiful  with  the  crown  of  martyr 
dom,  were  now  of  that  glorious  company  who  in  the  pres 
ence  of  God  were  chanting  the  praises  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 
Who  was  not  ready  to  die,  if  it  was  so  ordained,  if  by  such 
death  truth  could  be  transmitted  to  other  ages  ?  What 
was  it  to  die  to-day  rather  than  to-morrow,  —for  that  was 
all, — or  this  year  rather  than  the  next,  if  one's  death  could 
be  made  subservient  to  the  great  cause  of  Christ  and  his 
gospel  ?  What  was  it  to  die  by  the  sword  of  a  Eoman  exe 
cutioner,  or  even  to  be  torn  by  wild  beasts,  if  by  suffering 
so  the  soul  became  allied  to  reformers  and  benefactors  of  all 
ages  ?  And,  besides,  what  evil,  after  all,  was  it  in  the  4 
power  of  their  enemies  to  inflict  ?  They  could  do  no  more 
than  torment  and  destroy  the  body ;  they  could  not  touch 
nor  harm  the  soul.  By  the  infliction  of  death  itself,  they 
did  but  hasten  the  moment  when  they  should  stand  clothed 
in  shining  garments  in  the  presence  of  the  Father.  "  The 
time  has  come,  Christians, "  he  then  said,  "  when  in  the 
providence  of  God  you  are  called  upon  to  be  witnesses  of 
the  faith  which  you  profess  in  Christ.  After  many  years 
of  calm,  a  storm  has  arisen,  which  begins  already  to  be  felt 
in  the  violence  with  which  it  beats  upon  our  heads.  Al 
most  ever  since  the  reign  of  Decius  have  we  possessed  our 
borders  in  quietness.  Especially  under  Gallienus  and 
Claudius,  and  during  nearly  these  four  years  of  Aurelian, 
have  we  enjoyed  our  faith  and  our  worship,  with  none  to 
alarm  or  oppress  us.  The  laws  of  the  empire  have  been  as 
a  wall  of  defence  between  us  and  the  fierce  and  bloody 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  257 

spirit  of  pagan  superstition.       They  who  would  have  wil 
lingly  assailed  and  destroyed  us  have  been    forcibly  re 
strained  by  wise  and  merciful  enactments.     During  this 
season  of   repose  our  numbers   have   increased ;   we  have 
been  prosperous  and  happy.     Our  churches  have  multiplied, 
and  all  the  signs  of  an  outward  prosperity  have  been  visible 
in  all  parts  of  this  vast  empire.     Would  to  God  I  could  say 
that  while  numbers  and  wealth  have  been  added  to  the 
Church,  it  had  grown  in  grace  and  in  the  practice  of  the 
virtues  of  the  gospel  in  the  same  proportion  !     But  I  can 
not.     The  simplicity  and  purity  of  the  first  ages  are  no 
longer  to  be  seen  among  us.     We  no  longer  emulate  the 
early  apostles,  and  make  them  our  patterns.      We  rather 
turn  to  the  pagan  and  Jewish  priesthood,  and  in  all  that 
pertains  to  the  forms  of  our  worship  mould  ourselves  upon 
them ;  and  in  all  that  pertains  to  opinion  and  doctrine  we 
turn  to  the  philosophers,   and  engraft  whatever  of  their 
mysteries  and  subtleties  we  can  upon  the  plain  and  simple 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.     We  have  departed  far,  very  far, 
from  the  gospel  standard  both   in  practice  and  in  faith. 
We  need,  Christians,  to  be  brought  back.     We  have  gone 
astray,  we  have  almost  worshipped  other  gods  ;  it  is  needful 
that  we  return  in  season,  while  the  day  lasts,  to  our  true 
allegiance.      I  dare  not  say,  Christians,  that  the  calamity 
which  now  impends  is  a  judgment  of  God  upon  our  corrup 
tions  !  we  know  not  what  events  are  of  a  judicial  character, 
they  have  upon  them  no  signature  which  marks  them  as 
such;  but  this  we  may  say, -that  it  will  be  no  calamity, 
but  a  benefit  and  a  blessing  rather,  if  it  have  the  effect  to 
show  us  our  errors  and  cause  us  to  retrace  our  steps.     Au- 
relian,  enemy  though  we  call  him,  may  prove  our  benefac 
tor  ;  he  may  scourge  us,  but  the  sufferings  he  inflicts  may 
bring  healing  along  with  them,  being  that  very  medicine 
which  the  sick  soul  needs.     Let  us  meet,  then,  this  new  and 
heavy  trial  as  a  part  of  the  providence  of  God,  as  a  part  of 
that  mysterious  plan,  the  lines  of  which  are  in  so  great  part 
hidden  from  our  eyes,  by  which  he  educates  his  children 
for  eternity,  and  at  the  same  time,  and  by  the  same  means, 

17 


258  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

prepares  and  transmits  to  future  generations  the  richest 
blessings.  If  we,  Christians,  suffer  for  the  cause  of  truth 
and  God,  let  us  be  cheered  by  the  thought  that  by  our  suf 
ferings  our  children  and  children's  children  are  made  to 
inherit  that  truth,  and  brought  into  the  family  of  God.  If 
our  blood  is  poured  out  like  water,  let  us  remember  that 
it  serves  to  fertilize  that  soil  out  of  which  divine  nutriment 
shall  grow  for  generations  yet  unborn,  whom  it  shall  nourish 
up  unto  eternal  life.  Let  your  hearts  then  be  strong  within 
you;  faint  not,  nor  fear;  God  will  be  with  you,  and  his 
spirit  comfort  you. 

"  But  why  do  I  say  these  things  ?  Why  do  I  exhort  you 
to  courage  ?  For  when  was  it  known  that  the  followers  of 
Christ  shrunk  from  the  path  of  duty,  though  it  were  evi 
dently  the  path  of  death  ?  When  and  in  what  age  have 
those  been  wanting  who  should  bear  witness  to  the  truth, 
and  seal  it  with  their  blood  ?  There  have  been  those  who 
in  time  of  persecution  have  fallen  away;  but  for  one  apos 
tate  there  have  been  a  thousand  martyrs.  We  have  been, 
I  may  rather  affirm,  too  prodigal  of  life,  too  lavish  of  our 
blood.  There  has  been,  in  former  ages,  not  only  a  willing 
ness,  a  readiness,  to  die  for  Christ,  but  an  eagerness. 
Christians  have  not  waited  to  be  searched  for  and  found  by 
the  ministers  of  Eoman  power ;  they  have  thrust  themselves 
forward ;  they  have  gone  up  of  their  own  accord  to  the  tri 
bunal,  and  proclaimed  their  faith,  and  invited  the  death  at 
which  nature  trembles  and  revolts.  But  shall  we  blame 
this  divine  ardour,  this  more  than  human  contempt  of 
suffering  and  death,  this  burning  zeal  for  the  great  cause 
of  our  Master?  Let  us  rather  honour  and  revere  it  as  a 
temper  truly  divine,  and  of  more  than  mortal  force.  But 
let  us  be  just  to  all.  While  we  honour  the  courage  and 
self-sacrificing  love  of  so  many,  let  us  not  require  that  all 
should  be  such,  nor  cast  suspicion  upon  those  who,  loving 
Christ  not  less  in  their  hearts,  shrink  from  the  sufferings 
in  which  others  glory.  Ye  need  not,  Christian  men  and 
women,  yourselves  rush  to  the  tribunal  of  Varus,  ere  you 
can  feel  that  you  are  Christ's  indeed.  It  is  not  needful 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  259 

that  to  be  a  Christian  you  must  also  be  a  martyr.  Ye  need 
not,  ye  ought  not,  impatiently  to  seek  for  the  rack  and  the 
cross.  It  is  enough  if,  when  sought  and  found  and  ar 
raigned,  you  be  found  faithful,  —  if  then  you  deny  not  nor 
renounce  your  Lord,  but  glory  in  your  name,  and  with  your 
dying  breath  shout  it  forth  as  that  for  which  you  gladly  en 
counter  torture  and  death.  Go  not  forth,  then,  seeking  the 
martyr's  crown!  Wait  till  you  are  called.  God  knoweth, 
and  he  alone,  whom  he  would  have  to  glorify  him  by  that 
death  which  is  so  much  more  to  be  coveted  than  life.  Leave 
all  in  the  hand  of  Providence.  You  that  are  not  chosen, 
fear  not  that,  though  later,  the  gates  of  heaven  shall  not  be 
thrown  open  for  you.  Many  are  the  paths  that  lead  to 
those  gates.  Besides,  shall  all  rush  upon  certain  death  ? 
Were  all  martyrs,  where  then  were  the  seed  of  the  Church  ? 
They  who  live,  and  by  their  life  consecrate  to  holiness  and 
God  show  that  they  are  his,  do  no  less  for  their  Master 
and  his  cause  than  do  they  who  die  for  that  cause.  Nay, 
't  is  easier  to  die  well  than  to  live  well.  The  cross  which 
we  bear  through  a  long  life  of  faithful  service  is  a  heavier 
one  than  that  which  we  bear  as  we  go  up  our  Calvary. 
Leave  all,  then,  Christian  men  and  women,  in  the  hands 
of  God.  Seek  not  death  nor  life.  Shun  not  life  nor  death. 
Say  each,  '  Here,  Lord,  is  thy  servant ;  do  with  him  as 
shall  seem  to  thee  good. ' 

"  And  now,  Christians,  how  shall  we  receive  the  edict  of 
Aurelian  ?  It  silences  our  preachers,  it  closes  our  churches. 
What  now  is  the  duty  of  the  Christians  of  Eome  ?  " 

Soon  as  this  question  was  proposed  by  Probus,  many 
voices  from  various  parts  of  the  room  gave  in  their  judg 
ments.  At  first  the  opinions  expressed  differed  on  many 
points ;  but  as  the  discussion  was  prolonged,  the  difference 
grew  less  and  less,  till  unanimity  seemed  to  be  attained. 
It  was  agreed,  at  length,  that  it  was  right  to  conform  to 
the  edict  so  far  as  this :  that  they  would  not  preach 
openly  in  the  streets,  nor  elsewhere.  They  would  at  first, 
and  scrupulously,  conform  to  the  edict  in  its  letter  and 
spirit,  until  they  had  seen  what  could  be  done  by  appeals 


260  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

both  to  the  emperor  and  the  senate ;  but  maintaining  at  the 
same  time  that  if  their  appeals  were  vain,  if  their  churches 
were  not  restored  to  them,  with  liberty  to  assemble  in 
them  as  formerly  and  for  the  same  purposes,  then  they 
would  take  the  freedom  that  was  not  granted,  and  use  it  as 
before,  and  abide  by  the  issue ;  no  power  of  man  should 
close  their  mouths  as  ambassadors  of  God,  as  followers  of 
Christ,  and  through  him,  reformers  of  the  world.  They 
would  speak,  they  would  preach  and  pray,  though  death 
were  the  immediate  reward. 

In  this  determination  I  heartily  agreed,  as  both  moderate 
and  yet  firm ;  as  showing  respect  for  the  powers  that  are 
over  us,  and  at  the  same  time  asserting  our  own  rights, 
and  declaring  our  purpose  to  stand  by  them.  But  so 
thought  not  all.  For  no  sooner  was  the  opinion  of  the 
assembly  declared  than  Macer  broke  forth. 

"  I  have  heard, "  said  he,  "  the  judgment  which  has  been 
pronounced.  But  I  like  it  not ;  I  agree  not  to  it.  Shall 
the  minister  of  Christ,  the  ambassador  of  God,  a  messenger 
from  Heaven  to  earth,  hold  his  peace  at  the  behest  of  a 
man,  though  he  be  an  emperor,  or  of  ten  thousand  men, 
were  all  emperors  ?  Not  though  every  Christian  in  Borne 
subscribed  to  this  judgment,  not  though  every  Christian 
in  the  world  assented  to  it,  would  I.  Is  Christ  to  receive 
laws  of  Aurelian?  Is  the  cause  of  God  and  truth  to  be 
postponed  to  that  of  the  empire,  and  posterity  to  die  of 
hunger  because  we  refuse  to  till  the  earth  ?  We  are  God's 
spiritual  husbandmen ;  the  heart  of  Eome  is  our  field  of 
labour ;  it  is  already  the  eleventh  hour ;  the  last  days  are 
at  hand ;  and  shall  we  forbear  our  toil ;  shall  we  with 
draw  our  hand  from  the  plough ;  shall  we  cease  to  pro 
claim  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation,  because  the  doors  of 
our  churches  are  closed  ?  Not  so,  Christians,  by  the  blessing 
of  God,  shall  it  be  with  me.  While  the  streets  of  Rome 
and  her  door-stones  will  serve  me  for  church  and  pulpit, 
and  while  my  tongue  is  left  unwrenched  from  my  mouth, 
will  I  not  cease  to  declare  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified ! 
Think  you  Aurelian  will  abate  his  wrath,  or  change  his 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  261 

purposes  of  death,  for  all  your  humble  suing  ?  —  that 
cringing  and  fawning  will  turn  aside  the  messengers  of 
death  ?  Believe  it  not.  Ye  know  not  Aurelian.  More 
would  you  gain  with  him,  did  the  faith  of  the  peace-loving 
Jesus  allow  it,  if  ye  went  forth  in  battle  array,  and  dis 
puted  this  great  question  in  the  streets  of  Eome  sword  in 
hand !  More  would  ye  gain  now  if  ye  sent  a  word  of 
defiance,  denying  his  right  to  interpose  between  God  and 
his  people,  between  Christ  and  his  Church,  and  daring  him 
to  do  his  worst,  than  by  this  tame  surrender  of  your  rights, 
this  almost  base  denial  of  your  Master.  No  sooner  shall 
to-morrow's  sun  have  risen  than  on  the  very  steps  of  the 
Capitol  will  I  preach  Christ,  and  hurl  the  damnation  of 
God  upon  this  bloody  emperor  and  his  bloody  people. " 

"Oh,  Macer!  Macer !  cease,  cease!"  cried  a  woman's 
voice  from  the  crowd.  "  You  know  not  what  you  say ! 
Already  have  your  harsh  words  put  new  bitterness  into 
Aurelian 's  heart.  Forbear,  as  you  love  Christ  and  us.  " 

"  Woman, "  replied  Macer,  "  for  such  your  voice  declares 
you  to  be,  I  do  love  both  Christ  and  you ;  and  it  is  because 
I  love  you  that  I  aim  to  set  aside  this  faithless  judgment  of 
the  Eoman  Christians.  But  when  I  say  I  love  you  and 
the  believers  in  Eome,  I  mean  your  souls,  not  your  bodies. 
I  love  not  your  safety,  nor  your  peace,  nor  your  outward 
comforts ;  your  houses,  nor  your  wealth,  nor  your  children, 
nor  your  lives,  nor  anything  that  is  yours  which  the  eye 
can  see  or  the  hands  handle.  I  love  your  souls,  and  be 
sides  them  nothing.  And  while  I  love  them,  and  for 
them  am  bound  in  the  spirit  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  I  may 
not  hold  my  peace,  nor  hide  myself,  for  that  there  is  a  lion 
in  the  path.  As  a  soldier  of  the  cross,  I  will  never  flee. 
Though  at  the  last  day  I  hear  no  other  word  of  praise  from 
Him  the  Judge,— and  no  other  shall  I  hear,  for  my  pagan 
sins  weigh  me  down  —  down  —  help,  Lord  !  or  I  perish  ! : 
-Macer's  voice  here  took  the  tone  of  deepest  agony;  he 
seemed  for  a  time  wholly  lost,  standing  still,  with  out 
stretched  arms  and  uplifted  eye.  After  a  long  pause  he 
suddenly  resumed  :  "  What  did  I  say  ?  It  was  this  :  though 


262  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

I  hear  no  other  word  of  praise  from  my  Judge  as  I  stand 
at  his  judgment-seat,  I  trust  I  shall  hear  this,  that  I  did 
not  flee  rior  hide  myself,  that  I  was  no  coward,  but  a  bold 
and  fearless  soldier  of  the  cross,  ready  at  any  time  and  at 
all  times  to  suffer  for  the  souls  of  my  brethren. " 

"  Think  not,  Macer, "  said  Probus,  "  that  we  shrink  at 
the  prospect  of  danger.  But  we  would  be  not  only  bold 
and  unshrinking,  but  wise  and  prudent.  There  is  more 
than  one  virtue  goes  to  make  the  Christian  man.  We  think 
it  right  and  wise  first  to  appeal  to  the  emperor's  love  of 
justice.  We  think  it  might  redound  greatly  to  our  advan 
tage  if  we  could  obtain  a  public  hearing  before  Aurelian,  so 
that  from  one  of  our  own  side  he  might  hear  the  truth  in 
Christ,  and  then  judge  whether  to  believe  so  was  hurtful 
to  the  state,  or  deserving  of  torture  and  death. " 

"  As  well,  Probus, "  replied  Macer,  "  might  you  preach 
the  faith  of  Christ  in  the  ear  of  the  adder  —  to  the  very 
stones  of  the  highways !  Aurelian  turned  from  a  settled 
purpose  !  —  ha  !  ha !  You  have  not  served,  Probus,  under 
him  in  Gaul  and  Asia,  as  others  have.  Never  did  the 
arguments  of  his  legions  and  his  great  officers  on  the  other 
side  serve  but  to  intrench  him  the  more  impregnably  on  his 
own.  He  knows  not  what  the  word  '  change  '  means.  But 
were  this  possible  and  of  good  hope,  it  shows  not  that  plain 
and  straight  path  to  which  my  spirit  points,  and  which, 
therefore,  I  must  travel.  Is  it  right  to  hearken  to  man 
rather  than  God  ?  That  to  me  is  the  only  question.  Shall 
Aurelian  silence  the  ambassador  of  God  and  Christ  ?  Shall 
man  wrestle  and  dispute  with  the  Almighty  ?  To  me, 
Christians,  it  would  be  a  crime  of  deeper  dye  than  the 
errors  of  my  pagan  youth,  did  I  chain  my  tongue,  were  it 
but  for  an  hour,  at  the  command  of  Aurelian.  I  have  a 
light  within,  and  it  is  that  I  must  obey.  I  reason  not ; 
I  weigh  not  probabilities ;  I  balance  not  argument  against 
argument,  —  I  feel !  and  that  I  take  to  be  the  instinct  of 
God,  the  inspiration  of  his  holy  Spirit ;  and  as  I  feel,  so 
am  I  bound  to  act. " 

It  was  felt  to  be  useless  to  reason  with  this  impetuous 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  263 

and  self-willed  man.  He  must  be  left  to  work  out  his  own 
path  through  the  surrounding  perils,  and  bear  whatever 
evil  his  violent  rashness  might  draw  upon  his  head.  Yet 
his  are  those  extreme  and  violent  opinions  and  feelings 
which  are  so  apt  to  carry  away  the  multitude,  and  it  was 
easy  to  see  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  assembly  went 
with  him.  Another  occasion  was  given  for  their  expression. 

When  it  had  been  determined  that  the  edicts  should  be 
observed  so  far  as  to  refrain  from  all  public  preaching  and 
all  assembling  together,  till  the  emperor  had  been  first  ap 
pealed  to,  it  then  became  a  question  in  what  manner  the 
emperor  should  be  approached,  and  by  whom,  in  behalf  of 
the  whole  body.  And  no  sooner  had  Macer  ceased  than 
the  same  voice  which  had  first  brought  those  charges  against 
Probus  was  again  heard, —  the  voice,  as  I  have  since  learned, 
of  a  friend  of  Felix,  and  an  exorcist. 

"  If  it  be  now  determined, "  said  the  voice,  "  that  we 
appeal  to  the  clemency  of  the  emperor  in  order  to  avert 
from  our  heads  the  evil  that  seems  to  be  more  than  threat 
ened,  let  it  be  done  by  some  one  who  in  his  faith  may  fitly 
represent  the  great  body  of  Christ's  followers.  Whether 
the  emperor  shall  feel  well  inclined  towards  us  or  not,  will 
it  not  greatly  depend  upon  the  manner  in  which  the  truth 
in  Christ  shall  be  set  forth,  and  whether,  by  means  of  the 
principles  and  doctrines  that  shall  be  shown  to  belong  to  it 
and  constitute  it,  it  shall  be  judged  by  him  to  be  of  hurtful 
or  beneficial  tendency  ?  Now,  it  is  well  known  to  all  how 
variously  Christ  is  received  and  interpreted  in  Rome.  As 
received  by  some,  his  gospel  is  one  thing ;  as  received  by 
others,  it  is  another  and  quite  a  different  thing.  Who  can 
doubt  that  our  prospect  of  a  favourable  hearing  with  Aure- 
lian  will  be  an  encouraging  one  in  the  proportion  that  he 
shall  perceive  our  opinions  to  agree  with  those  which  have 
already  been  advanced  in  the  schools  of  philosophy,  espe 
cially  in  that  of  the  divine  Plato  ?  This  agreement  and  al 
most  identity  has,  ever  since  the  time  of  Justin,  been 
pointed  out  and  learnedly  defended.  They  who  perceive 
this  agreement,  and  rest  in  it  as  their  faith,  now  constitute 


264  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

the  greater  part  of  the  Christian  world.  Let  him,  then, 
who  is  to  bespeak  for  us  the  emperor's  good-will  be,  as  in 
good  sooth  he  ought  to  be,  of  these  opinions.  As  to  the 
declaration  that  has  been  made  that  one  is  as  much  a  Chris 
tian  as  another  whatever  the  difference  of  faith  may  be,  I 
cannot  receive  it ;  and  he  who  made  the  declaration  I  doubt 
would  scarce  abide  by  it,  since,  as  I  learn,  he  is  a  wor 
shipper  and  follower  of  that  falsehearted  interloper,  Nova- 
tian.  The  Puritans  least  of  all  are  apt  to  regard  with  favour 
those  who  hold  not  with  them.  Let  Felix,  then,  who,  if 
any  now  living  in  Eorne,  may  stand  forward  as  a  specimen 
of  what  Christ's  religion  is  in  both  its  doctrine  and  its  life 
—  let  Felix  plead  our  cause  with  Aurelian.  " 

The  same  difference  of  feeling  and  opinion  manifested 
itself  as  before.  Many  voices  immediately  cried  out,  "  Yes, 
yes,  Felix !  —  let  Felix  speak  for  us  !  "  while  others,  from 
every  part  of  the  room,  were  heard  shouting  out,  "  Probus, 
Probus  !  —  let  Probus  be  our  advocate  !  " 

At  length  the  confusion  subsided,  as  a  single  voice  made 
itself  heard  above  the  others,  and  caught  their  attention  : 
"  If  Felix,  0  Christians,  as  has  just  been  affirmed,  represents 
the  opinions  which  are  now  most  popular  in  the  Christian 
world,  at  least  here  in  Borne,  Probus  represents  those  which 
are  more  ancient — "  He  was  instantly  interrupted. 

"  How  long  ago, "  cried  another,  "  lived  Paul  of  Samosata  ?  " 

"  When  died  the  heretic  Sabellius  ?  "  added  still  another. 

"  Or  Praxeas  ?  "  said  a  third  ;  "  or  Theodotus  ?  or  Artemon  ? " 

"  These, "  replied  the  first,  soon  as  he  could  find  room  for 
utterance, —  "  these  are,  indeed,  not  of  the  earliest  age,  but 
they  from  whom  they  learned  their  faith  are  of  that  age, 
namely  the  apostles  and  the  great  Master  of  all. " 

"  Heresy, "  cried  out  one  who  had  spoken  before,  "  always 
dates  from  the  oldest ;  it  never  has  less  age  or  authority 
than  that  of  Christ." 

"  Christians  !  Christians  !  "  —  Macer's  stentorian  voice 
was  now  heard  towering  above  the  tumult,  —  "  What  is  it 
ye  would  have  ?  What  are  these  distinctions  about  which 
ye  dispute  ?  What  have  they  to  do  with  the  matter  now 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  2G5 

in  hand  ?  How  would  one  doctrine  or  the  other,  in  such 
matters,  weigh  with  Aurelian  more  than  straws  or  feathers  ? 
But  if  these  are  stark  nought,  and  less  than  nought,  there 
are  other  questions  pertinent  to  the  time,  nay,  which  the 
time  forces  upon  us,  and  about  which  we  should  be  well 
agreed.  A  new  age  of  persecution  has  arisen,  and  the 
church  is  about  to  be  sifted,  and  the  wheat  separated  from 
the  chaff, —  the  first  to  be  gathered  into  the  garners  of  God, 
the  last  to  be  burned  up  in  fire  unquenchable.  Now  is  it 
to  be  proved  who  are  Christ's,  and  who  are  not, —  who  will 
follow  him,  bearing  their  cross,  to  some  new  Calvary,  and 
who,  saving  their  lives,  shall  yet  lose  them.  Who  knows 
not  the  evil  that  in  the  time  of  Decius,  yes,  and  before  and 
since  too,  fell  upon  the  Church  from  the  so  easy  reception 
and  restoration  of  those  who  in  an  hour  of  weakness  and 
fear  denied  their  Master  and  his  faith,  and  bowed  the  knee 
to  the  gods  of  Rome  ?  Here  is  the  danger  against  which 
we  are  to  guard ;  from  this  quarter  —  not  from  any  other 
of  vain  jargon  concerning  natures,  essences,  and  modes  of 
being  —  are  we  to  look  for  those  fatal  inroads  to  be  made 
upon  the  purity  of  the  gospel,  that  cannot  but  draw  along 
with  them  corruption  and  ruin.  Of  what  stuff  will  the 
Church  then  be  made,  when  they  who  are  its  ministers, 
deacons,  and  bishops,  shall  be  such  as,  when  danger  showed 
itself,  relapsed  into  idolatry,  and  soon  as  the  clouds  had 
drifted  by,  and  the  winds  blew  soft,  came  forth  again  into  the 
calm  sunshine,  renounced  their  idolatry,  and  again  profess 
ing  Christ,  were  received  to  the  arms  of  the  Church,  and 
even  to  the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  ? 
Christians,  the  great  Novatian  is  he  to  whom  we  owe  what 
purity  the  Church  yet  retains,  and  it  is  an  allegiance  to 
him—" 

"  The  great  Novatian !  "  exclaimed  a  priest  of  the  Roman 
Church, —  "  great  only  in  his  infamy  !  Himself  an  apostate 
once,  he  sought  afterwards,  having  been  received  himself 
back  again  to  the  Church  upon  his  repentance,  to  bury  his 
shame  under  a  show  of  zeal  against  such  as  were  guilty  of 
the  same  offence.  His  own  weakness  or  sin,  instead  of 


266  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

teaching  him  compassion,  served  but  to  harden  his  heart. 
Is  this  the  man  to  whose  principles  we  are  to  pledge  our 
selves  ?  Were  his  principles  sound  in  themselves,  we  could 
hardly  take  them  from  such  a  source.  But  they  are  false. 
They  are  in  the  face  of  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the  gospel. 
What  is  the  character  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  if  it  be  not 
mercy  ?  Yet  this  great  Novatian,  to  those  who  like  Peter 
have  fallen,  —  Peter,  whom  his  Master  received  and  forgave, 
—  denies  all  mercy  ;  and  for  one  offence,  however  penitence 
may  wring  the  soul,  cuts  them  off  forever,  like  a  rotten 
branch,  from  the  body  of  Christ !  Is  this  the  teacher  whose 
follower  should  appeal  for  us  to  the  Eoman  emperor  ?  " 

"  I  seek  not, "  Macer  began  to  say,  "  to  defend  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  —  " 

"  Bishop  !  "  cried  the  other,  "  bishop  ! —  who  ever  heard 
that  Novatian  was  Bishop  of  Borne  ?  But  who  has  not 
heard  that  that  wicked  and  ambitious  man,  through  envy 
of  Cornelius,  and  resolved  to  supplant  him,  caused  himself 
to  be  ordained  bishop  by  a  few  of  that  order,  weak  and 
corrupt  men,  whom  he  bribed  to  the  bad  work,  but  who, 
corrupt  as  they  were,  and  bribed  as  they  were,  it  was  first 
needful  to  make  drunk,  before  conscience  would  allow  them 
by  such  act  eternally  to  disgrace  themselves  and  the 
Church  ?  " 

"  Lies  and  slanders  all !  "  cried  Macer,  and  others  with 
him,  in  the  same  breath,  and  with  their  utmost  voice.  At 
the  same  time  many  were  heard  to  name  Macer  as  one  who 
would  best  assert  and  defend  the  Christian  cause  before 
Aurelian.  But  these  were  soon  overborne,  and  silenced  by 
the  greater  number  of  those  who  now  again  called  upon 
Probus  to  fill  that  office. 

Probus  seemed  not  sorry  that,  his  name  being  thus  tu- 
multuously  called  out,  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  speak  to 
the  assembly.  Making  a  sign  accordingly  that  he  would 
be  heard,  he  said  that  he  coveted  not  the  honourable  office 
of  appealing  for  them  to  the  Emperor  of  Eome. 

"  It  would  confer  more  happiness  a  thousand-fold, 
Christians,  if  I  could  by  any  words  of  mine  put  harmony 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  267 

and  peace  into  your  hearts,  than  if  I  might  even  convert 
a  Eoman  emperor.  What  a  scene  is  this,  at  such  an  hour, 
—  of  confusion  and  discord  when,  if  ever,  our  hearts  should 
be  drawn  closer  together  by  this  exposure  to  a  common 
calamity !  Why  is  it  that,  when  at  home,  or  moving 
abroad  in  the  business  of  life,  your  conversation  so  well 
becomes  your  name  and  faith,  drawing  upon  you  even 
the  commendation  of  your  pagan  foes,  but  you  no  sooner 
assemble  together,  as  now,  than  division  and  quarrel 
ensue,  in  such  measure  as  among  our  heathen  opponents 
is  never  or  rarely  seen  ?  Why  is  it  that,  when  you  are 
so  ready,  Christians,  to  die  for  Christ,  you  will  not  live 
at  peace  for  him  ?  Honour  you  not  him  more  by  showing 
that  you  are  of  his  spirit,  — that  for  his  name's  sake  you 
are  willing  to  bear  patiently  whatever  reproach  may  be 
laid  upon  you,  —  than  you  do  even  by  suffering  and 
dying  for  him  ?  For  which  is  the  harder  service,  to  lay 
down  a  life,  often  so  hard  beset  by  sorrow  and  pain,  and 
thereupon  enter  through  heaven's  gates  into  the  immediate 
and  eternal  glory  of  God,  or  to  live  on  many  and  weary 
days  of  patient  doing  and  bearing,  toiling  without  ceasing, 
oftentimes  trampled  upon,  cast  out  as  an  offence,  de 
spised,  scorned,  and,  with  the  first  teachers,  a  spectacle 
of  misery  and  compassion  to  angels  and  to  men  ?  Be  not 
so  ready,  then,  to  take  upon  you  the  lighter  burden  and 
the  easier  yoke,  while  you  shrink  from  the  heavier  one,  but 
for  that  reason  the  more  honourable.  Let  all  who  are  here 
but  show  their  love  of  Christ  as  perfectly  in  their  tempers 
as  they  would  to-morrow,  were  they  summoned  to  the  trial, 
by  meeting  without  a  murmur  or  a  groan  the  rods  and  the 
axe  of  the  executioner,  and  a  day  of  a  new  and  better  glory 
will  have  risen  upon  the  Church.  The  questions  you  have 
agitated  are  not  for  this  hour  and  place.  What  now  does 
it  signify  whether  one  be  a  follower  of  Paul,  of  Origen,  of 
Sabellius,  or  Novatian,  when  we  are  each  and  all  so  shortly 
to  be  called  upon  to  confess  our  allegiance  to  neither  of 
these,  but  to  a  greater,  even  Jesus,  the  Master  and  Head  of 
us  all  ?  And  what  has  our  preference  for  some  of  the  doc- 


268  LETTERS    FROM  ROME. 

trines  of  either  of  these  to  do  with  our  higher  love  of  Christ 
and  his  truth  ?  By  such  preference  is  our  superior  and  su 
preme  regard  for  Jesus  and  his  word  vitiated  or  invalidated  ? 
Nay,  what  is  it  we  then  do,  when  we  embrace  the  peculiar 
doctrine  of  some  great  or  good  man  who  has  gone  before, 
but  embrace  that  which,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  we  regard  as 
the  doctrine  of  Christ  ?  We  receive  the  peculiar  doctrine 
of  Paul,  or  Justin,  or  Origen,  not  because  it  is  theirs,  but 
because  we  think  they  have  shown  it  to  be  eminently  the 
doctrine  of  Christ.  In  binding  upon  us,  then,  the  dogmas 
of  any  teacher,  we  ought  not  to  be  treated  other  than  as  those 
who,  in  doing  so,  are  seeking  to  do  the  highest  honour,  not 
to  such  teacher,  but  to  Christ.  I  am  charged  as  a  disciple 
of  the  Bishop  of  Antioch,  and  the  honoured  Felix  as  a  dis 
ciple  of  Plato.  If  I  honour  Paul,  Christians,'  for  any  of  his 
truth,  it  is  because  I  deem  him  to  have  discerned  clearly 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  My  faith  is  not  in  him,  but 
in  Jesus.  And  if  Felix  honour  Plato  or  Plotinus,  it  is 
but  because  in  them  he  beholds  some  clearer  unfolding  — 
clearer  than  elsewhere  —  of  the  truth  in  Christ.  Are  not 
we,  then,  and  all  who  do  the  same  thing,  to  be  esteemed  as 
those  who  honour  Christ,  not  deny  or  forsake  him  ?  And 
as  we  all  hold  in  especial  reverence  some  one  or  another 
of  a  former  age,  through  whom,  as  a  second  master,  we 
receive  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  ought  we  not  all  to  love 
and  honour  one  another,  seeing  that  in  the  same  way  we 
all  love  and  honour  Christ  ?  Let  love,  Christians,  mutual 
honour  and  love,  be  the  badge  of  our  discipleship,  as  it  was 
in  the  first  age  of  the  Church.  Soon,  very  soon,  will  you 
be  called  to  bear  testimony  to  the  cause  you  have  espoused, 
and  perhaps  seal  it  with  your  blood.  Be  not  less  ready  to 
show  your  love  to  those  around  you  by  the  promptness 
with  which  you  lend  your  sympathy,  or  counsel,  or  aid,  as 
this  new  flood  of  adversity  flows  in  upon  them.  But  why 
do  I  exhort  you  ?  The  thousand  acts  of  kindness,  of  charity, 
of  brotherly  love,  which  flow  outward  from  you  in  a  per 
petual  stream  toward  heathen  riot  less  than  Christian,  and 
have  drawn  upon  you  the  admiration  even  of  the  pagan 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  269 

world,  is  sufficient  assurance  that  your  hearts  will  not  be 
cold  when  the  necessities  of  this  heavier  time  shall  lay 
upon  you  their  claims.  It  is  only  in  the  public  assembly, 
and  in  the  ardour  of  debate,  that  love  seems  cold  and  dead. 
Forget,  then,  now  and  to-morrow,  that  you  are  followers 
of  any  other  than  Christ.  Forget  that  you  call  yourselves 
after  one  teacher  or  another,  and  remember  only  that  you 
are  brethren,  members  of  one  family,  of  the  same  household 
of  faith,  owning  one  Master,  worshipping  one  and  the  same 
God  and  Father  of  us  all.  And  now,  Christians,  if  you 
would  rather  that  Felix  should  defend  you  before  Aurelian, 
I  would  also.  There  is  none  among  us  who  loves  Christ 
more  or  better  than  he,  or  would  more  readily  lay  down  his 
life  for  his  sake.  " 

Felix,  however,  joined  with  all  the  others,  for  all  now 
seemed  of  one  opinion,  in  desiring  that  Probus  should 
appear  for  the  Christians  before  the  emperor;  which  he 
then  consented  to  do.  Harmony  was  once  more  restored. 
The  differences  of  opinion  which  separated  them  seemed  to 
be  forgotten,  and  they  mingled  as  friends  and  fellow-labour 
ers  in  the  great  cause  of  truth.  They  who  had  been  harsh 
est  in  the  debate  —  which  was  at  much  greater  length,  and 
conducted  with  much  more  vehemence  than  as  I  have  de 
scribed  it  —  were  among  the  most  forward  to  meet  with 
urbanity  those  who  were  in  faith  the  most  distantly  re 
moved  from  them.  A  long  and  friendly  interview  then 
took  place,  in  which  each  communed  with  each,  and  by 
words  of  faith  or  affection,  helped  to  supply  the  strength 
which  all  needed  for  the  approaching  conflict.  One  saw  no 
longer  and  heard  no  longer  the  enthusiastic  disputant,  more 
bent  upon  victory  than  truth,  and  heedless  of  the  wounds 
he  gave  to  the  heart  provided  he  convinced  the  head  or 
silenced  the  tongue,  but  instead,  those  who  now  appeared 
no  other  than  a  company  of  neighbours  and  friends,  engaged 
in  the  promotion  of  some  common  object  of  overwhelming 
interest. 

When  in  this  manner,  and  for  a  considerable  space  of 
time,  a  fit  offering  had  been  laid  upon  the  altar  of  love, 


270  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

the  whole  assembly  again  joined  together  in  acts  of  prayer, 
and  again  lifted  up  their  voices  in  songs  of  praise.  This 
duty  being  performed,  we  separated  and  sought  the  streets. 
The  storm  which  had  begun  in  violence  had  increased,  and 
it  was  with  difficulty  that,  beset  by  darkness,  wind,  and 
rain,  I  succeeded  without  injury  in  finding  my  way  to  the 
Coslian. 

Julia  was  waiting  for  me  with  anxious  impatience.  On 
my  relating  to  her  the  events  of  the  evening,  she  said, — 

"  How  strange,  Lucius,  the  conduct  of  such  men  at  such 
a  time!  How  could  Christians,  with  the  Christian's  faith 
in  their  hearts,  so  lose  the  possession  of  themselves,  and 
so  violate  all  that  they  profess  as  followers  of  Jesus  ?  I 
confess,  if  this  be  the  manner  in  which  Christianity  is  in 
tended  to  operate  upon  the  character,  I  am  as  yet  wholly 
ignorant  of  it,  and  desire  ever  to  remain  so.  But  it  is  not 
possible  that  they  are  right.  Nay,  they  seem  in  some  sort 
to  have  acknowledged  themselves  to  have  been  in  the 
wrong,  by  the  last  acts  of  the  meeting.  This  brings  to  my 
mind  what  Paul  has  often  told  me  of  the  Christians,  of  the 
same  kind,  at  which  I  was  then  amazed,  but  had  forgot 
ten.  I  do  not  comprehend  it.  I  have  read  and  studied  the 
character  and  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  and  it  seems  to  me  I 
have  arrived  at  some  true  understanding  —  for  surely  there 
is  little  difficulty  in  doing  so  —  of  what  he  himself  was, 
and  of  what  he  wished  his  followers  to  be.  Would  he  have 
recognized  his  likeness  in  those  of  whom  you  have  now 
told  me?" 

"  Yet, "  I  replied,  "  there  was  more  of  it  there  in  those 
very  persons  than  at  first  we  might  be  inclined  to  think ; 
and  in  the  great  multitude  of  those  who  were  present  it 
may  have  been  all  there,  and  was  in  most,  I  cannot  doubt. 
We  ought  not  to  judge  of  this  community  by  the  leaders  of 
the  several  divisions  which  compose  it.  They  are  by  no 
means  just  specimens,  from  which  to  infer  the  character  of 
all.  They  are  but  too  often  restless,  ambitious,  selfish 
men,  seeking  their  own  aggrandizement  and  their  party's, 
rather  than  the  glory  of  Christ  and  his  truth.  I  can  con- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  271 

ceive  of  a  reception  of  Christian  precept  and  of  the  Chris 
tian  spirit  being  but  little  more  perfect  and  complete  than 
I  have  found  it  among  the  humbler  sort  of  the  Christians 
of  Rome.  Among  them  there  is  to  be  seen  nothing  of 
the  temper  of  violence  and  bigotry  that  was  visible  this 
evening  in  the  language  of  so  many.  They  for  the  most 
part  place  the  religion  of  Jesus  in  holy  living,  in  love  of 
one  another,  and  patient  waiting  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 
And  their  lives  are  seen  to  accord  with  these  great  princi 
ples  of  action.  Even  for  their  leaders,  who  are  in  so  many 
points  so  different  from  them,  this  may  be  said  in  explana 
tion  and  excuse, —  that  from  studying  the  record  more  than 
the  common  people,  they  came  to  consider  more  narrowly 
in  what  the  religion  of  Jesus  consists,  and  arriving,  after 
much  labour,  at  what  they  believe  in  their  hearts  to  be  the 
precise  truth,  —  truth  the  most  vital  of  any  to  the  power 
and  success  of  the  gospel,  —  this  engrosses  all  their  affec 
tions,  and  prompts  all  their  labour  and  zeal ;  in  the  dis 
semination  of  this  do  they  alone  behold  the  dissemination 
of  Christianity  itself ;  this  being  denied  or  rejected,  the 
gospel  itself  is.  With  such  notions  as  fundamental  princi 
ples  of  action,  it  is  easy  to  see  with  what  sincere  and  vir 
tuous  indignation  they  would  be  filled  towards  such  as 
should  set  at  nought  and  oppose  that  which  they  cherish 
as  the  very  central  glory  and  peculiarity  of  Christianity. 
These  things  being  so,  I  can  pity  and  forgive  a  great  deal 
of  what  appears  and  is  so  opposite  to  the  true  Christian 
temper,  on  account  of  its  origin  and  cause,  —  especially  as 
these  very  persons,  who  are  so  impetuous,  and  truculent 
almost,  as  partisans  and  advocates,  are  as  private  Christians 
examples  perhaps  of  extraordinary  virtue.  We  certainly 
know  this  to  be  the  case  with  Macer.  An  apostle  was  never 
more  conscientious  or  more  pure.  Yet  would  he,  had  he 
power  equal  to  his  will,  drive  from  the  Church  all  who 
bowed  not  the  knee  to  his  idol,  Novatian. " 

"  But  how, "  asked  Julia,  "  would  that  agree  with  the 
offence  he  justly  took  at  those  who  quarrelled  with  Probus 
and  Felix  on  account  of  their  doctrine  ?  " 


272  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  There  certainly  would  be  in  such  conduct  no  agreement 
or  consistency.  It  only  shows  how  easy  it  is  to  see  a  fault 
in  another,  to  which  we  are  stone-blind  in  ourselves.  In 
the  faith  or  errors  of  Probus  and  Felix  he  thought  there 
was  nothing  that  should  injure  their  Christian  name,  or 
unfit  them  for  any  office.  Yet  in  the  same  breath  he  con 
demned,  as  almost  the  worst  enemies  of  Christ,  such  as  re 
fused  honour  and  adherence  to  the  severe  and  inhuman  code 
of  his  master,  Novatian.  " 

"  But  how  far  removed,  Lucius,  is  all  this  from  the  spirit 
of  the  religion  of  Jesus  !  Allowing  all  the  force  of  the  apolo 
gies  you  may  offer,  is  it  not  a  singular  state  for  the  minds 
and  tempers  of  those  to  have  arrived  at  who  profess  before 
the  world  to  have  formed  themselves  after  the  doctrine,  and 
what  is  more,  after  the  character  of  Christ  ?  I  cannot  un 
derstand  the  process  by  which  it  has  been  done,  nor  how 
it  is  that,  without  bringing  upon  themselves  public  shame 
and  reproach,  such  men  can  stand  forth  and  proclaim  them 
selves  not  only  Christians,  but  Christian  leaders  and 
ministers. " 

"  I  can  understand  it,  I  confess,  quite  as  little.  But  I 
cannot  doubt  that  as  Christianity  outgrows  its  infancy,  es 
pecially  when  the  great  body  of  those  who  profess  it  shall 
have  been  formed  by  it  from  their  youth,  and  shall  not  be 
composed  as  now  of  those  who  have  been  brought  over  from 
the  opposite  and  uncongenial  regions  of  Paganism,  with 
much  of  their  former  character  still  adhering  to  them, 
Christians  will  then  be  what  they  ought  to  be  who  make 
the  life  and  character  of  Jesus  their  standard.  Nothing  is 
learned  so  slowly  by  mankind  as  those  lessons  which  en 
force  mutual  love  and  respect,  in  which  the  Gospels  so 
abound.  We  must  allow  not  only  years,  but  hundreds  of 
years,  for  these  lessons  to  be  imprinted  upon  the  general 
heart  of  men,  and  to  be  seen  in  all  their  character  and  in 
tercourse.  But  when  a  few  hundred  years  shall  have 
elapsed,  —  and  that  is  a  long  allowance  for  this  education 
to  be  perfected  in,  —  I  can  conceive  that  the  times  of  the 
primitive  peace  and  love  shall  be  more  than  restored,  and 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  273 

that  such  reproaches  as  to-night  were  heard  lavished  upon 
one  another  will  be  deemed  as  little  compatible  with  a 
Christian  profession  as  would  be  violence  and  war.  All 
violence  and  wrong  must  cease  as  this  religion  is  received, 
and  the  ancient  superstitions  and  idolatries  die  out.  " 

"  What  a  privilege  to  be  born  and  live, "  said  Julia,  "  in 
those  fast  approaching  years  when  Christianity  shall  alone 
be  received  as  the  religion  of  this  large  empire ;  when  pa 
ganism  shall  have  become  extinct  in  Eome,  and  all  our 
people  shall  be  actuated  by  the  same  great  principles  of 
faith  and  virtue  that  governed  both  Christ  and  his  apostles  ! 
A  few  centuries  will  witness  more  and  better  than  we  now 
dream  of. " 

So  we  pleased  ourselves  with  visions  of  future  peace  and 
happiness  which  Christianity  was  to  convert  to  reality.  To 
me  they  are  no  more  mere  visions,  but  as  much  realities  to 
be  experienced,  as  the  future  towering  oak  is,  when  I  look 
upon  an  acorn  planted,  or  as  the  future  man  is,  when  I 
look  upon  a  little  child.  If  Christianity  grows  at  all,  it 
must  grow  in  such  a  direction.  If  it  do  not,  it  will  not  be 
Christianity  that  grows,  but  something  else  that  shall  have 
assumed  its  name  and  usurped  its  place.  The  extension  of 
Christianity  is  the  extension  and  multiplication,  as  it  were, 
of  that  which  constituted  Christ  himself,  — it  is  the  con 
version  of  men  into  his  image,  or  else  it  is  nothing.  Then, 
when  this  shall  be  done,  what  a  paradise  of  peace,  and 
holiness,  and  love,  will  not  the  earth  be !  Surely  to  be 
used  as  an  instrument  in  accomplishing  such  result,  one 
may  well  regard  as  an  honour  and  privilege,  and  be  ready 
to  bear  and  suffer  much,  if  need  be,  in  fulfilling  the  great 
office. 

I  hope  I  shall  not  have  wearied  you  by  all  this  exactness, 
I  strictly  conform  to  your  injunctions,  so  that  you  can  com 
plain  only  of  yourself. 

We  often  wish  that  the  time  would  allow  us  to  escape 
to  you,  that  we  might  witness  your  labours,  and  share  them 
in  the  rebuilding  and  re-embellishing  of  the  city.  Eome 
will  never  be  a  home  to  Julia.  Her  affections  are  all  in 

18 


274  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

Syria.      I  can  even  better  conceive  of  Zenobia  becoming  a 
Roman  than  Julia.      Farewell. 

Finding  among  the  papers  of  Piso  no  letter  giving  any 
account  of  what  took  place  immediately  after  the  meeting 
of  the  Christians,  which  in  his  last  letter  he  has  so  mi 
nutely  described,  I  shall  here  supply  as  I  may  the  defi 
ciency,  and  I  can  do  it  at  least  with  fidelity,  since  I  was 
present  at  the  scenes  of  which  I  shall  speak. 

No  one  took  a  more  lively  interest  in  the  condition  and 
affairs  of  the  Christians  than  Zenobia  ;  and  it  is  with  sorrow 
that  I  find  among  the  records  of  Piso  no  mention  made  of 
conversations  had  at  Tibur  while  these  events  were  trans 
piring,  at  which  were  present  himself  and  the  Princess 
Julia,  the  queen,  and  more  than  once  Aurelian  and  Livia. 
While  I  cannot  doubt  that  such  record  was  made,  I  have  in 
vain  searched  for  it  among  those  documents  which  he  has 
intrusted  to  me. 

It  was  by  command  of  the  queen  that  on  the  day  follow 
ing  that  on  which  the  Christians  held  their  assembly  at  the 
baths,  I  went  to  Rome  for  the  very  purpose  of  learning 
whatever  I  could,  both  at  the  Gardens  and  abroad  in  the 
city,  concerning  the  condition  and  probable  fate  of  the 
Christians,  —  she  desiring  more  precise  information  than 
could  be  gathered  from  any  of  the  usual  sources  of 
intelligence. 

It  was  apparent  to  me,  as  I  entered  the  city  and  pene 
trated  to  its  more  crowded  parts,  that  somewhat  unusual 
had  taken  place,  or  was  about  to  happen.  There  were  more 
than  the  common  appearances  of  excitement  among  those 
whom  I  saw  conversing  and  gesticulating  at  the  corners  of 
streets  or  the  doors  of  the  public  baths.  This  idle  and 
corrupt  population  seemed  to  have  less  than  on  other  occa 
sions  to  employ  their  hands,  and  so  gave  their  time  and 
their  conversation  to  one  another,  laying  no  restraint  upon 
the  quantity  of  either.  It  is  an  indisputable  fact  that 
Eome  exists  to  this  day ;  for  any  one  who  will  come  into 
Italy  may  see  it  for  himself,  and  he  cannot  reject  the  testi- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  275 

mony  of  his  eyes  and  ears.  But  how  it  exists  from  year  to 
year,  or  from  day  to  day,  under  such  institutions,  it  would 
puzzle  the  wisest  philosopher,  I  believe,  to  tell.  Me,  who 
am  no  philosopher,  it  puzzles  as  often  as  I  reflect  upon  it. 
I  cannot  learn  the  causes  that  hold  together,  in  such  ap 
parent  order  and  contentment,  so  idle  and  so  corrupt  a 
people.  I  have  supposed  it  must  be  these,  but  they  seem 
not  sufficient :  the  praetorian  camp  without  the  walls 
and  the  guard  in  league  with  them  within,  and  the  lar 
gesses  and  games  proceeding  from  the  bounty  of  the 
emperor. 

These  last,  though  they  are  the  real  sources  of  their  cor 
ruption,  and  must  end  in  the  very  destruction  of  the  city 
and  people,  yet  at  present  operate  to  keep  them  quiet  and 
in  order.  So  long  as  these  bounties  are  dispensed,  so  long, 
such  is  our  innate  love  of  idleness  and  pleasure,  will  the 
mass  think  it  foolish  to  agitate  any  questions  of  right  or 
religion,  or  any  other,  by  which  they  might  be  forfeited. 
Were  these  suddenly  suspended,  all  the  power  of  the  prae 
torian  cohorts,  I  suppose,  could  not  keep  peace  in  Rome. 
They  were  now,  I  found,  occupied  by  the  affairs  of  the 
Christians,  and  waiting  impatiently  for  the  orders  which 
should  next  issue  from  the  imperial  will.  The  edicts  pub 
lished  two  days  before  gave  them  no  employment,  nor 
promised  much.  They  merely  laid  restraints  upon  the 
Christians,  but  gave  no  liberty  of  assault  and  injury  to  the 
Eoman. 

"  That  does  not  satisfy  the  people,  "  said  one  to  me,  at  the 
door  of  a  shop,  of  whom  I  had  made  some  inquiry  on  the 
subject.  "  More  was  looked  for  from  the  emperor;  for  it  is 
well  known  that  he  intends  the  extremest  measures,  and 
most  are  of  opinion  that  before  the  day  is  out  new  edicts 
will  be  issued.  Why  he  took  the  course  he  did  of  so  un 
common  moderation,  't  is  hard  to  say.  All  the  effect  of  it 
is  to  give  the  Christians  opportunity  to  escape  and  hide 
themselves,  so  that  by  the  time  the  severer  orders  against 
them  are  published,  it  will  be.  impossible  to  carry  them 
into  execution.  " 


276  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  Perhaps, "  I  said,  "  it  was,  after  all,  his  intention  to 
give  them  a  distant  warning  that  some  might,  if  they  saw 
fit  to  do  so,  escape. " 

"  I  do  not  believe  that, "  he  replied ;  "  it  will  rather,  I 
am  of  opinion,  be  found  to  have  proceeded  from  the  advice 
of  Fronto  and  Varus,  to  give  to  the  proceedings  a  greater 
appearance  of  moderation,  which  shows  into  the  hands  of 
what  owls  the  emperor  has  suffered  himself  to  fall.  No 
body  ever  expected  moderation  in  Aurelian,  nor  do  any  but 
a  few  as  bad  as  themselves  think  these  wretches  deserve  it 
The  only  effect  of  it  will  be  to  increase  their  swelling  in 
solence  and  pride,  thinking  that  Aurelian  threatens,  but 
dares  not  execute.  Before  another  day,  I  trust,  new  edicts 
will  show  that  Aurelian  is  himself.  The  life  of  Eome 
hangs  upon  the  death  of  these. " 

Saying  which,  with  a  savage  scowl,  which  showed  how 
gladly  he  would  turn  executioner  or  tormentor  in  such 
service,  he  turned  and  crossed  the  street. 

I  then  sought  the  palace  of  Piso.  I  was  received  in  the 
library,  where  I  found  the  lady  Julia  and  Piso. 

They  greeted  me,  as  they  ever  did,  rather  as  if  I  were  a 
brother  than  but  the  servant  of  Zenobia.  But  whatever 
belongs  to  her,  were  it  but  so  much  as  a  slave  of  the  lowest 
office,  would  they  treat  with  affection  at  least,  if  not  with 
reverence.  After  answering  their  inquiries  after  the  welfare 
of  the  queen  and  Faustula,  I  made  mine  concerning  the 
condition  of  the  city  and  the  affairs  of  the  Christians,  say 
ing  that  Zenobia  was  anxious  to  learn  what  ground  there 
was,  or  whether  any,  to  feel  apprehension  for  the  safety 
of  that  people. 

Piso  said  that  now  he  did  not  doubt  there  was  great 
ground  for  serious  apprehension.  It  was  believed  by  those 
who  possessed  the  best  means  of  intelligence  that  new 
edicts,  of  a  much  severer  character,  would  be  issued  before 
another  day ;  but  that  Zenobia  need  be  under  no  concern 
either  as  to  himself  or  Julia,  since  the  emperor  in  conver 
sation  with  him  as  much  as  assured  him  that  whatever 
might  befall  others,  no  harm  should  come  to  them. 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  277 

He  then  gave  me  an  account  of  what  the  Christians  had 
done  in  their  assembly,  agreeing  with  what  is  now  to  be 
found  in  the  preceding  letter. 

I  then  asked  whether  he  thought  that  the  Christian, 
Macer,  would  keep  to  the  declaration  he  had  made  that  he 
would  to-day,  the  edicts  notwithstanding,  preach  in  the 
streets  of  Rome.  He  replied  that  he  did  not  doubt  that  he 
would,  and  that  if  I  wished  to  know  what  some  of  the 
Christians  were,  and  the  present  temper  of  the  people 
towards  them,  I  should  do  well  to  seek  him  and  hear  him. 

"  Stand  by  him,  good  Nichomachus, "  said  Julia,  "  if  at 
any  moment  you  find  that  you  can  be  of  service  to  him.  I 
have  often  heretofore  blamed  him ;  but  since  this  murder 
of  Aurelia,  and  the  horrors  of  the  Dedication,  I  hold  him 
warranted,  and  more,  in  any  means  he  may  use  to  rouse  this 
guilty  people.  Perhaps  it  is  only  by  the  laceration  of  such 
remedies  as  he  uses  that  the  heart  of  Rome,  hardened  by 
ages  of  sin,  can  be  made  to  feel.  To  the  milder  treat 
ment  of  Probus,  and  others  like  him,  it  seems  sometimes 
utterly  insensible  and  dead.  At  least  his  sincerity,  and 
his  zeal,  and  his  courage,  are  worthy  of  all  admiration.  " 

I  assured  her  that  I  would  befriend  him  if  I  could  do  so 
with  any  prospect  of  advantage ;  but  it*  was  little  that  one 
could  do  against  the  fury  of  a  Roman  mob.  I  then  asked 
Piso  if  he  would  not  accompany  me ;  but  he  replied  that  he 
had  already  heard  Macer,  and  was  besides  necessarily  de 
tained  at  home  by  other  cares. 

As  there  was  no  conjecturing  in  what  part  of  the  city 
this  Christian  preacher  would  harangue  the  people,  and 
neither  the  princess  nor  Piso  could  impart  any  certain  in 
formation,  I  gave  little  more  thought  to  it ;  but  as  I  left 
the  palace  on  the  Coelian  determined  to  seek  the  gardens  of 
Sallust,  where,  if  I  should  not  see  Aurelian,  I  might  at  least 
pass  the  earlier  hours  of  the  day  in  an  agreeable  retreat,  I 
took  the  street  which  leads  from  the  Coalian  to  the  Capitol 
hill,  as  affording  a  pleasanter  walk,  if  longer.  On  the  way 
there,  I  observed  well  the  signs  which  were  given,  in  the  man 
ner  and  conversation  of  those  whom  I  met  or  walked  with, 


278  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

of  the  events  which  were  near  at  hand.  There  is  no  better 
index  of  what  a  despotic  ruler,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  a 
people's  despot  will  do,  than  the  present  will  of  the  people. 
It  was  most  apparent  to  me  that  the  people  were  impatient 
for  some  quick  and  vigorous  action,  no  matter  how  violent, 
against  the  Christians.  Language  the  most  cruel  and  fero 
cious  met  my  ear.  The  moderation  and  tardiness  of  the 
emperor  —  of  him  who  had  in  everything  else  been  noted 
for  the  rapidity  of  his  movements  —  were  frequent  subjects 
of  complaint.  "  It  is  most  strange, "  they  said,  "  that  Au- 
relian  should  hesitate  in  this  matter,  in  truth  as  if  he  were 
afraid  to  move.  Were  it  not  for  Fronto,  it  is  thought  that 
nothing  would  be  done  after  all.  But  this  we  may  feel 
sure  of,  that  if  the  emperor  once  fairly  begins  the  work  of 
extermination,  he  is  not  the  man  to  stop  half  way.  And 
there  is  not  a  friend  of  the  ancient  institutions  of  religion 
but  who  says  that  its  very  existence  depends  upon  —  not 
the  partial  obstruction  of  this  sect  —  but  upon  its  actual 
and  total  extermination.  Who  does  not  know  that  meas 
ures  of  opposition  and  resistance  which  go  but  part  way, 
and  then  stop  through  a  certain  unwillingness,  as  it  were, 
to  proceed  to  extremes,  do  but  increase  the  evil  they  aim  to 
suppress  ?  Weeds  that  are  but  mown  come  up  afterwards 
but  the  more  vigorously.  Their  very  roots  must  be  torn  up 
and  then  burned.  "  Such  language  was  heard  on  all  sides, 
uttered  with  utmost  violence  of  voice  and  gesture. 

I  paused,  among  other  curious  and  busy  idlers,  at  the 
door  of  a  smith's  shop,  which,  as  I  passed  slowly  by,  pre 
sented  a  striking  view  of  a  vast  and  almost  boundless 
interior,  blazing  with  innumerable  fires,  about  which 
labourers,  half  naked  and  seeming  as  if  fire  themselves, 
from  the  reflection  from  their  steaming  bodies  of  the  red 
glare  of  the  furnaces,  stood  in  groups,  some  drawing  forth 
the  bars  of  heated  metal  and  holding  them,  while  others, 
wielding  their  cyclopean  hammers,  made  the  anvils  and  the 
vast  interior  ring  with  the  blows  they  gave.  All  around  the 
outside  of  the  shop,  and  in  separate  places  within,  stood 
the  implements  and  machines  of  various  kinds  which  were 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  279 

either  made  or  were  in  the  process  of  being  put  together. 
Those  whom  I  joined  were  just  within  the  principal  en 
trance,  looking  upon  a  fabric  of  iron  consisting  of  a  com 
plicated  array  of  wheels  and  pulleys,  to  which  the  workmen 
were  just  in  the  act  of  adding  the  last  pieces.  The  master 
of  the  place  now  approaching  and  standing  with  us  while 
he  gave  divers  orders  to  the  men,  I  said  to  him,  - 

"  What  new  device  may  this  be  ?  The  times  labour  with 
new  contrivances  by  which  to  assist  the  labourer  in  his  art, 
and  cause  iron  to  do  what  the  arm  has  been  accustomed  to 
perform.  But  after  observing  this  with  care,  I  can  make 
nothing  of  it.  " 

The  master  looked  at  me  with  a  slighting  expression  of 
countenance,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  You  are  a  wise  one !  You 
must  just  have  emerged  from  the  mountains  of  Helvetia, 
or  the  forests  of  the  Danube. "  But  he  did  not  content 
himself  with  looks. 

"  This,  sir?  "  said  he.  "  This,  if  you  would  know  it,  is 
a  rack,  — a  common  instrument  of  torture,  used  in  all  the 
prisons  of  the  empire, —  the  use  of  which  is  to  extract  truth 
from  one  who  is  unwilling  to  speak  except  compelled ;  or, 
sometimes,  when  death  is  thought  too  slight  a  punishment, 
to  give  it  an  edge  with,  just  as  salt  and  pepper  are  thrown 
into  a  fresh  wound.  Some  crimes,  you  must  know,  were 
too  softly  dealt  with  were  a  sharp  axe  the  only  instrument 
employed.  Csesar !  just  bring  some  wires  of  a  good  thick 
ness,  and  we  will  try  this.  Now  shall  you  see  precisely 
how  it  would  fare  with  your  own  body,  were  you  on  this 
iron  frame  and  Varus  standing  where  I  am.  There,  the 
body,  you  perceive,  is  confined  in  this  manner.  You  ob 
serve  there  can  be  no  escape  and  no  motion.  Now,  at  the 
word  of  the  judge,  this  crank  is  turned.  Do  you  see  the 
effect  upon  the  wire  ?  Imagine  it  your  body,  and  you  will 
have  a  lively  idea  of  the  instrument.  Then,  at  another 
wink  or  word  from  Varus,  these  are  turned,  and  you  see 
that  another  part  of  the  body,  the  legs  or  arms  as  it  may 
be,  is  subjected  to  the  same  force  as  this  wire,  which,  as 
the  fellow  keeps  turning,  you  see,  strains,  and  straightens, 


280  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

and  strains,  till  —  crack  !    There,  that  is  what  we  call  a  rack, 

—  a  most  ingenious  contrivance,   and  of  great  use.      This 
is  going  up  within  the  hour  to  the  hall  of  the  prefect.  " 

"  It  seems, "  I  remarked,  "  well  contrived  indeed  for  its 
object.  And  what, "  I  asked,  "  are  these  which  stand  here  ? 
Are  they  for  the  same  or  a  similar  purpose  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  these,  sir,  are  different  and  yet  the  same.  They  are 
all  for  purposes  of  torture,  but  they  vary  infinitely  in  the 
ingenuity  with  which  they  severally  inflict  pain  and  death. 
That  is  esteemed  in  Kome  the  most  perfect  instrument 
which,  while  it  inflicts  the  most  exquisite  torments,  shall 
at  the  same  time  not  assail  that  which  is  a  vital  part,  but, 
you  observe,  prolong  life  to  the  utmost.  Some,  of  an  old- 
fashioned  structure,  with  a  clumsy  and  bungling  machinery, 

—  here  are  some  sent  to  me  as  useless,  — long  before  the 
truth  could  be  extracted,  or  much  more  pain  inflicted  than 
would  accompany  beheading,  destroyed  the  life  of  the  vic 
tim.     Those  which  I  build  —  and  I  build  for  the  state  — 
are  not  to  be  complained  of  in  that  way.      Varus  is  curious 
enough,  I  can  assure  you,  in  such  things.      All  these  that 
you  see  here,  of  whatever  form  or  make,  are  for  him  and 
the  hall  of  justice.    They  have  been  all  refitted  and  repaired, 
or  else  they  are  new.  " 

"  How  is  it  possible, "  I  asked,  "  so  many  could  be  re 
quired  in  one  place  ?  " 

"  Surely, "  said  the  master,  "  you  must  just  have  dropped 
down  in  Rome  from  Britain,  or  Scythia,  or  the  moon ! 
Didst  ever  hear  of  a  people  called  Galilean  or  Christian  ? 
Perhaps  the  name  is  new  to  you?  " 

"  No,  I  have  heard  it.  " 

"  Well,  these  are  for  them.  As  you  seem  new  in  the 
city  and  to  our  Roman  ways,  walk  a  little  farther  in,  and 
1  will  show  you  others,  which  are  for  the  men  and  the  boys, 
at  such  time  as  the  slaughter  of  this  people  shall  become 
general.  For  you  must  know,  although  it  is  not  got  widely 
abroad  yet,  that  by  and  by  the  whole  city  is  to  be  let 
loose  upon  them.  That  is  the  private  plan  of  the  emperor. 
Every  good  citizen,  it  will  be  expected,  will  do  his  share 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  281 

in  the  work  till  Rome  shall  be  purged.  Aurelian  does 
nothing  by  halves.  It  is  in  view  of  such  a  state  of  things 
that  I  have  prepared  an  immense  armoury,  if  I  may  call 
it  so,  of  every  sort  of  cheap  iron  tool,  —  I  have  the  more 
costly  also,  —  to  meet  the  great  demand  that  will  be  made. 
Here  they  are  ;  commend  now  my  diligence,  my  patriotism, 
and  my  foresight !  Some  of  my  craft  will  not  engage  in 
this  work ;  but  it  exactly  jumps  with  my  humour.  Any 
that  you  shall  choose  of  these,  sir,  you  shall  have  cheap, 
and  they  shall  be  sent  to  your  lodgings. " 

I  expressed  my  gratitude,  but  declined  the  offer. 

After  wandering  a  little  longer  around  the  huge  work 
shop,  I  took  my  leave  of  its  humane  master,  still  entreating 
me  to  purchase,  and,  as  I  entered  again  the  street,  turned 
towards  the  Capitol.  My  limbs  were  sympathizing  with 
those  wires  throughout  the  rest  of  the  day. 

I  had  forgotten  Macer,  and  almost  my  object  in  coming 
abroad,  and  was  revolving  various  subjects  in  my  mind,  my 
body  only  being  conscious  of  the  shocks  which  now  and 
then  I  received  from  persons  meeting  me  or  passing  me, 
when  I  became  conscious  of  a  sudden  rush  along  the  street 
in  the  direction  of  the  Capitol,  which  was  now  but  a  fur 
long  from  where  I  was.  I  was  at  once  awake.  The  people 
began  to  run,  and  I  ran  with  them  by  instinct.  At  length 
it  came  into  my  mind  to  ask  why  we  were  running.  One 
near  me  replied,  — 

"Oh,  it's  only  Macer  the  Christian,  who,  'tis  said,  in 
spite  of  the  edict,  has  just  made  for  the  steps  of  the  Capitol, 
followed  by  a  large  crowd.  " 

On  the  instant  I  outstripped  my  companion,  and  turning 
quickly  the  corner  where  the  street  in  which  I  was  crossed 
the  hill,  I  there  beheld  an  immense  multitude  gathered 
around  the  steps  of  the  Capitol,  and  the  tall  form  of  Macer 
just  ascending  them.  Eesolved  to  be  near  him,  I  struggled 
and  forced  my  way  into  the  mass,  till  I  found  myself  so  far 
advanced  that  I  could  both  hear  and  be  heard  by  him,  if  I 
should  find  occasion  to  speak,  and  see  the  expression  of  his 
countenance.  It  was  to  me,  as  he  turned  round  toward  the 


282  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

people,  the  most  extraordinary  countenance  T  ever  beheld. 
It  seemed  as  if  once  it  had  been  fiercer  than  the  fiercest 
beast  of  the  forest,  while  through  that  was  now  to  be  dis 
cerned  the  deep  traces  of  grief,  and  an  expression  which 
seemed  to  say,  "  I  and  the  world  have  parted  company.  I 
dwell  above.  "  His  two  lives  and  his  two  characters  were 
to  be  read  at  once  in  the  strong  and  deep-sunk  lines  of  a 
face  that  struck  the  beholder  at  once  with  awe,  with  admi 
ration,  and  compassion. 

The  crowd  was  restless  and  noisy ;  heaving  to  and  fro  like 
the  fiery  mass  of  a  boiling  crater.  A  thousand  exclama 
tions  and  imprecations  filled  the  air.  I  thought  it  doubtful 
whether  the  rage  which  seemed  to  fill  a  great  proportion  of 
those  around  me  would  so  much  as  permit  him  to  open  his 
mouth.  It  seemed  rather  as  if  he  would  at  once  be  dragged 
from  where  he  stood  to  the  prefect's  tribunal,  or  hurled 
from  the  steps  and  sacrificed  at  once  to  the  fury  of  the  popu 
lace.  But,  as  the  cries  of  his  savage  enemies  multiplied, 
the  voices  of  another  multitude  were  lifted  up  in  his  behalf, 
which  were  so  numerous  and  loud  that  they  had  the  effect 
of  putting  a  restraint  upon  the  others.  It  was  evident  that 
Macer  could  not  be  assailed  without  leading  to  a  general 
combat.  All  this  while  Macer  stood  unmoved  arid  calm 
as  the  columns  of  the  Capitol  itself,  waiting  till  the  debate 
should  be  ended  and  the  question  decided,  —  a  question  of 
life  or  death  to  him.  Upon  the  column  immediately  on 
his  right  hand  hung,  emblazoned  with  gold,  and  beautiful 
with  all  the  art  of  the  chirographer,  the  edict  of  Aurelian. 
It  was  upon  parchment,  within  a  brazen  frame. 

Soon  as  quiet  was  restored,  so  that  any  single  voice  could 
be  heard,  one  who  was  at  the  foot  of  the  steps  and  near  the 
preacher,  cried  out  to  him,  — 

"  Well,  old  fellow,  begin ;  thy  time  is  short !  " 

"  Young  man, "  he  replied,  "  I  was  once  old  in  sin,  for 
which  God  forgive  me !  now  I  am  old  in  the  love  of 
Christ,  for  which  God  be  thanked !  but  in  years  I  am  but 
forty.  As  for  time,  I  think  only  of  eternity !  " 

"  Make  haste,  Macer,  *  cried  another  voice  from  the 
crowd ;  "  Varus  will  soon  be  here. " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  283 

"  I  believe  you,  "  replied  the  soldier ;  "  but  I  am  ready  for 
him.  I  love  life  no  longer  than  I  can  enjoy  free  speech. 
If  I  may  not  now  and  here  speak  out  every  thought  of  my 
heart  and  the  whole  truth  in  Christ,  then  would  I  rather 
die ;  and  whether  I  die  in  my  own  bed  or  upon  the  iron 
couch  of  Varus,  matters  little,  Eomans !  "  Turning  now 
and  addressing  the  crowd :  "  The  emperor  in  his  edict  tells 
me  not  to  preach  to  you,  —  not  to  preach  Christ  in  Rome, 
neither  within  a  church  nor  in  the  streets.  Shall  I  obey 
him?  When  Christ  says,  'Go  forth  and  preach  the  gospel 
to  every  creature, '  shall  I  give  ear  to  a  Eoman  emperor  who 
bids  me  hold  my  peace  ?  Not  so,  not  so,  Eomans.  I  love 
God  too  well,  and  Christ  too  well,  and  you  too  well,  to  heed 
such  bidding.  I  love  Aurelian  too ;  I  have  served  long 
under  him,  and  he  was  ever  good  to  me.  He  was  a  good  as 
well  as  a  great  general,  and  I  loved  him.  I  love  him  now, 
but  not  so  well  as  these,  not  so  well  as  you.  And  if  I 
obeyed  this  edict  it  would  show  that  I  love  him  better 
than  you,  and  better  than  these,  which  would  be  false.  If 
I  obeyed  this  edict,  I  should  never  speak  to  you  again  of 
this  new  religion,  as  you  call  it.  I  should  leave  you  all  to 
perish  in  your  sins,  without  any  of  that  knowledge,  or  faith, 
or  hope  in  Christ,  which  would  save  you  from  them,  and 
form  you  after  the  image  of  God,  and  after  death  carry  you 
up  to  dwell  with  him,  and  with  just  men  forever  and  ever. 
I  should  then,  indeed,  show  that  I  hated  you,  which  I  can 
never  do.  I  love  you  and  Eome,  I  cannot  tell  how  much, 
—  as  much  as  a  child  ever  loved  a  mother,  or  children  one 
another.  And  therefore  it  is  that  no  power  on  earth, 
nor  above  it,  nor  under  it,  save  that  of  God,  shall  hinder 
me  from  declaring  to  you  the  doctrine  which  I  think  you 
need,  —  nay,  without  which  your  souls  will  perish,  and 
dwell  forever  and  ever,  not  with  God,  but  in  fires  eternal 
of  the  lowest  hell.  For  what  can  your  gods  do  for  you  ? 
what  are  they  doing  ?  They  lift  you  not  up  to  themselves  ; 
they  push  you  down  rather  to  those  fires.  Christ,  O 
Eomans,  if  you  will  receive  him,  will  save  you  from  them, 
and  from  those  raging  fires  of  sorrow  and  remorse  which 


284  LETTERS  FROM    ROME. 

here  on  earth  do  constitute  a  hell  hot  as  any  that  burns 
below.  It  is  your  sins  which  kindle  those  fires,  and  with 
which  Christ  wages  war,  — not  with  you.  It  is  your  sins 
against  which  I  wage  war  here  in  the  streets  of  Rome. 
Only  repent  of  your  sins,  Romans,  and  believe  in  Christ 
the  Son  of  God,  and  oh,  how  glorious  and  happy  were  then 
this  great  and  glorious  city !  I  have  told  you  before,  and  I 
tell  you  now,  your  vices  are  undermining  the  foundations 
of  this  great  empire.  There  is  no  power  to  cure  these  but 
in  Jesus  Christ.  And  when  I  know  this,  shall  I  cease  to 
preach  Christ  to  you  because  a  man,  a  man  like  myself, 
forbids  me  ?  Would  you  not  still  prepare  for  a  friend  or  a 
child  the  medicine  that  would  save  his  life,  though  you 
were  charged  by  another  never  so  imperiously  to  forbear  ? 
The  gospel  is  the  divine  medicament  that  is  to  heal  all 
your  sicknesses,  cure  all  your  diseases,  remove  all  your  mis 
eries,  cleanse  all  your  pollutions,  correct  all  your  errors, 
confirm  within  you  all  necessary  truth.  And  when  it  is 
this  healing  draught  for  which  your  souls  cry  aloud,  for 
which  they  thirst  even  unto  death,  shall  I,  the  messenger 
of  God,  sent  in  the  name  of  his  Son  to  bear  to  your  lips  the 
cup  of  which  if  you  once  drink  you  shall  live  forever, 
withhold  from  you  that  cup,  or  dash  it  to  the  ground  ? 
Shall  I,  a  mediator  between  God  and  man,  falter  in  my 
speech,  and  my  tongue  hang  palsied  in  my  mouth,  because 
Aurelian  speaks?  What  to  me,  0  Romans,  is  the  edict  of 
a  Roman  emperor  ?  Down,  down,  accursed  scrawl !  nor 
insult  longer  both  God  and  man. " 

And  saying  that,  he  reached  forth  his  hand,  and  seizing 
the  parchment,  wrenched  it  from  its  brazen  frame,  and 
rending  it  to  shreds,  strewed  them  abroad  upon  the  air. 

It  was  done  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  At  first,  horror- 
struck  at  the  audacity  of  the  deed,  and  while  it  was  in  the 
act  of  performing,  the  crowd  stood  still  and  mute,  bereft, 
as  it  were,  of  all  power  to  move  or  speak.  But  soon  as  the 
fragments  of  the  parchment  came  floating  along  upon  the 
air,  their  senses  returned,  and  the  most  violent  outcries, 
curses,  and  savage  yells,  rose  from  the  assembled  multi- 


FHOM  PISO  TO   FAUSTA.  285 

tude,  and  at  the  same  moment  a  movement  was  made  to 
rush  upon  him,  with  the  evident  purpose  to  sacrifice  him 
on  the  spot  to  the  offended  majesty  of  the  empire.  I  sup 
posed  that  their  purpose  would  easily  be  accomplished,  and 
that  whatever  I  might  attempt  to  do  in  his  defence  would 
be  no  more  than  a  straw  thrown  in  the  face  of  a  whirlwind. 
But  here  a  new  wonder  revealed  itself.  For  no  sooner  was 
it  evident,  from  the  rage  and  tumultuous  tossings  of  the 
crowd,  and  their  ferocious  cries,  that  the  last  moments  of 
Macer  had  arrived,  than  it  was  apparent  that  all  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  building  on  whose  steps 
he  stood  were  either  Christians,  or  Romans  who  like  myself 
were  well  disposed  towards  that  people,  and  would  promptly 
join  them  in  their  defence  of  Macer.  These,  and  they 
amounted  to  a  large  and  dense  mass,  at  once,  as  those  cries 
arose,  sent  forth  others  as  shouts  of  defiance,  and  facing 
outwards,  made  it  known  that  none  could  assail  Macer  but 
by  first  assailing  them.  I  could  not  doubt  that  it  was  a 
preconcerted  act  by  which  the  Christian  was  thus  sur 
rounded  by  his  friends,  —  not,  as  I  afterwards  found,  with 
his  knowledge,  but  done  at  their  own  suggestion,  —  so  that, 
if  difficulty  should  arise,  they,  by  a  show  of  sufficient 
power,  might  rescue  Macer,  whom  all  esteemed  in  spite  of 
his  errors,  and  also  serve  by  their  presence  to  deter  him 
from  any  act  or  the  use  of  any  language  that  should  give 
needless  offence  to  either  the  prefect  or  his  friends.  Their 
benevolent  design  was  in  part  frustrated  by  the  sudden,  and 
as  it  seemed  unpremeditated,  movement  of  Macer  in  tearing 
down  the  edict ;  but  they  still  served  as  a  protection  against 
the  immediate  assaults  of  the  excited  and  enraged  mob. 

But  their  services  were  soon  ended  by  the  interference  of 
a  power  with  which  it  was  vain  to  contend.  For  when  the 
populace  had  given  over  for  a  moment  their  design,  awed 
by  the  formidable  array  of  numbers  about  the  person  of 
Macer,  he  again,  having  never  moved  from  the  spot  where 
he  had  stood,  stretched  out  his  long  arm,  as  if  he  would 
continue  what  he  had  scarcely  as  yet  begun ;  and  to  my  sur 
prise  the  people,  notwithstanding  what  had  occurred,  seemed 


286  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

not  indisposed  to  hear  him.  But  just  at  that  moment  — 
just  as  a  deep  silence  had  at  length  succeeded  the  late  up 
roar —  the  distant  sound,  in  the  direction  of  the  prefect's, 
of  a  troop  of  horse  in  rapid  movement  over  the  pavements 
caught  the  ears  of  the  people.  No  one  doubted  for  a  mo 
ment  what  it  signified. 

"  Your  hour  is  come,  Macer !  "  cried  a  voice  from  the 
crowd. 

"  It  can  never  come  too  soon, "  answered  the  preacher, 
"  in  the  service  of  God.  But  remember,  Eoman  citizens, 
what  I  have  told  you,  that  it  is  for  you  and  for  Eome  that 
I  incur  the  wrath  of  the  wicked  Varus,  and  may  so  soon 
at  his  hands  meet  the  death  of  a  Christian  witness. " 

As  Macer  spoke  the  Eoman  guard  swept  rapidly  round 
a  corner,  and  the  multitude  giving  way  in  every  direction, 
left  him  alone  upon  the  spot  where  he  had  been  standing. 
Eegardless  of  life  and  limb,  the  horse  dashed  through  the 
flying  crowds,  throwing  down  many  and  trampling  them 
under  foot,  till  they  reached  the  Christian,  who,  undis 
mayed  and  fearless,  maintained  his  post.  There  was  little 
ceremony  in  their  treatment  of  him.  He  was  seized  by  a 
band  of  the  soldiers,  his  hands  strongly  bound  behind  him, 
and  placed  upon  a  horse,  when,  wheeling  round  again,  the 
troop  at  full  speed  vanished  down  the  same  avenue  by 
which  they  had  come,  bearing  their  victim,  as  we  doubted 
not,  to  the  tribunal  of  Varus. 

Determined  to  see  all  I  could,  and  the  last,  if  it  must 
be  so,  of  this  undaunted  spirit,  I  hastened  at  my  utmost 
speed  in  the  wake  of  the  flying  troop.  Little  as  I  had 
heard  or  seen  of  this  strange  man,  I  had  become  as  deeply 
concerned  in  his  fate  as  any  could  have  been  who  had 
known  him  more  intimately,  or  believed  both  in  him  and 
with  him.  I  know  not  what  it  was,  unless  it  were  the 
signatures  of  sincerity,  of  childlike  sincerity  and  truth 
stamped  upon  him,  that  so  drew  me  toward  him ;  together 
with  that  expression  of  profound  sadness,  or  rather  of  in 
ward  grief,  which,  wherever  we  see  it  and  in  whomsoever, 
excites  our  curiosity  and  engages  our  sympathy.  He  was 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  287 

to  me  a  man  who  deserved  a  better  fate  than  I  feared  he 
would  meet.  He  seemed  like  one  who,  under  fortunate 
circumstances,  might  have  been  of  the  number  of  those 
great  spirits  whose  iron  will  and  gigantic  force  of  character 
bear  down  before  them  all  opposition  and  yoke  nations  to 
their  car.  Of  fear  he  evidently  had  no  comprehension 
whatever.  The  rustling  of  the  autumn  breeze  in  his  gown 
alarmed  him  as  much  as  did  the  clang  of  those  horses' 
hoofs  upon  the  pavements,  though  he  so  well  knew  it  was 
the  precursor  of  suffering  and  death. 

With  all  the  speed  I  could  use,  I  hurried  to  the  hall  of 
the  prefect.  The  crowds  were  pouring  in  as  I  reached  it, 
among  whom  I  also  rushed  along,  and  up  the  flight  of 
steps,  anxious  only  to  obtain  an  entrance  and  a  post  of  ob 
servation  whence  I  could  see  and  hear  what  should  take 
place.  Varus  was  not  yet  in  his  seat;  but  before  it  at 
some  little  distance  stood  Macer,  his  hands  still  bound, 
and  a  soldier  of  the  palace  on  either  side. 

I  waited  not  long  before  Varus  appeared  at  the  tribunal, 
and  following  him,  and  placed  near  him,  Fronto,  priest  of 
the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  "  Now,  poor  Christian, "  I  thought 
within  myself,  "  if  it  go  not  hard  with  thee,  it  will  not  be 
for  want  of  those  who  wish  thee  ill.  The  very  Satan  of 
thy  own  faith  was  never  worse  than  these. "  Fronto 's 
cruel  eyes  were  fixed  upon  him  just  as  a  hungry  tiger's  are 
upon  the  unconscious  victim  upon  whom  he  is  about  to 
spring.  Varus  seemed  as  if  he  sat  in  his  place  to  witness 
some  holiday  sport,  —  drawing  his  box  of  perfume  between 
his  fingers,  or  daintily  adjusting  the  folds  of  his  gown. 
When  a  few  preliminary  formalities  were  gone  through, 
Varus  said,  addressing  one  of  the  officials  of  the  place, — 

"  Whom  have  we  here  ?  " 

"  Noble  prefect,  Macer,  the  Christian.  " 

"  And  why  stands  he  at  my  tribunal  ?  "  continued  Varus. 

"  For  a  breach  of  the  late  edict  of  the  emperor,  by  which 
the  Christians  were  forbidden  to  preach  either  within 
their  temples  or  abroad  in  the  streets  and  squares. " 

"  Is  that  all  ?  "  asked  the  prefect. 


288  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  Not  only, "  it  was  replied,  "  hath  he  preached  abroad  in 
the  streets,  but  he  hath  cast  signal  contempt  upon  both 
the  emperor  and  the  empire,  in  that  he  hath  but  now  torn 
down  from  its  brazen  frame  the  edict  which  he  had  first 
violated,  and  scattered  it  in  fragments  upon  the  streets.  " 

"  If  these  are  so,  doubtless  he  hath  well  earned  his  death. 
How  is  this,  Galilean  ?  Dost  thou  confess  these  crimes,  or 
shall  I  call  in  other  witnesses  of  thy  guilt  ?  " 

"  First, "  replied  Macer,  "  will  it  please  the  prefect  to  have 
these  bonds  removed  ?  For  the  sake  of  old  fellowship,  let 
them  be  taken  off,  that  while  my  tongue  is  free  to  speak, 
my  hands  may  be  free  also.  Else  am  I  not  a  whole  man.  " 

"  Unbind  them, "  said  the  prefect ;  "  let  him  have  his 
humour.  Yet  shall  we  fit  on  other  bracelets  anon  that  may 
not  sit  so  easy.  " 

"  Be  that  as  it  may, "  answered  the  Christian,  "  in  the 
meanwhile  I  would  stand  thus.  I  thank  thee  for  the 
grace.  " 

"  Now,  Christian,  once  more,  if  thou  art  ready,  —  is  it 
the  truth  that  hath  been  witnessed  ?  " 

"  It  is  the  truth, "  replied  Macer ;  "  and  I  thank  God 
that  it  is  so. " 

"  But  knowest  thou,  Christian,  that  in  saying  that,  thou 
hast  condemned  thyself  to  instant  death  ?  Was  not  death 
the  expressed  penalty  for  violation  of  that  law  ?  " 

"  Truly  it  was, "  answered  Macer ;  "  and  what  is  death 
to  me?" 

"  I  suppose  death  to  be  death, "  replied  Varus. 

"  Therein  thou  showest  thyself  to  be  in  the  same  dark- 
ness  as  all  the  rest  of  this  idolatrous  city.  Death  to  the 
Christian,  prefect,  is  life !  Crush  me  by  thy  engines,  and 
in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  is  my  soul  dwelling  with  God, 
and  looking  down  with  compassion  upon  thy  stony  heart.  " 

"  Verily,  Fronto, "  said  Varus,  "  these  Christians  are  an 
ingenious  people.  What  a  wonderful  fancy  is  this !  But, 
Christian,"  turning  to  Macer,"  it  were  a  pity,  surely,  for 
thee  to  die.  Thou  hast  a  family,  as  I  learn.  Would  not 
thy  life  be  more  to  them  than  thy  death  ?  " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  289 

"  Less, "  said  the  Christian,  "  a  thousand-fold  !  Were  it 
not  a  better  vision  to  them  of  me  crowned  with  a  victor's 
wreath  and  sitting  with  Christ,  than  dwelling  here  in  this 
new  Sodom,  and  drinking  in  its  pestilential  air?  The 
sight  of  me  there  would  be  to  them  a  spring  of  comfort 
and  a  source  of  strength,  which  here  it  can  never  be. " 

"  But, "  added  the  prefect,  "  it  is  but  right  that  thou 
shouldst  for  the  present,  if  it  may  be,  live  here,  and  take 
care  of  thy  family.  They  will  want  thee.  " 

"  God, "  replied  Macer,  "  who  feeds  the  birds  of  the  air, 
and  through  all  their  wanderings  over  the  earth,  from 
clime  to  clime,  still  brings  them  back  to  the  accustomed 
home,  will  watch  over  those  whom  I  love,  and  bring  them 
home.  Such,  prefect,  are  the  mercies  of  Eome  toward  us 
who  belong  to  Christ,  that  they  will  not  be  left  long  to 
bewail  my  loss. " 

"  Do  thy  family  then  hold  with  thee  ?  "  said  Varus. 

"  Blessed  be  God,  they  do.  " 

"  That  is  a  pity, "  responded  the  prefect. 

"  Say  not  so,  Varus ;  't  is  a  joy  and  a  triumph  to  me  in 
this  hour,  and  to  them,  that  they  are  Christ's.  " 

"Still,"  rejoined  the  prefect,  "I  would  willingly  save 
thee,  and  make  thee  live ;  and  there  is  one  way  in  which 
it  may  be  done,  and  thou  mayest  return  in  joy  to  thy 
family. " 

"  Let  me  then  know  it, "  said  Macer. 

"  Eenounce  Christ,  Macer,  and  sacrifice ;  and  thy  life  is 
thine,  and  honour  too.  " 

Macer 's  form  seemed  to  dilate  to  more  than  its  common 
size,  his  countenance  seemed  bursting  with  expression,  as 
he  said, — 

"Eenounce  Christ!  save  my  life  by  renouncing  Christ! 
How  little,  Varus,  dost  thou  know  what  a  Christian  is ! 
Not  though  I  might  sit  in  thy  seat  or  Aurelian's,  or  on  the 
throne  of  a  new  universe,  would  I  deny  my  Saviour.  To 
Christ,  Varus,  do  I  owe  it  that  I  am  not  now  what  I  was 
when  I  dwelt  in  the  caves  of  the  Flavian.  To  Christ  do  I 
owe  it  that  I  am  not  now  what  I  was  when  in  the  ranks  of 

19 


290  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

Aurelian.  To  Christ  do  I  owe  it  that  my  soul,  once  steeped 
in  sin  as  thy  robe  in  purple  dye,  is  now  by  him  cleansed, 
and,  as  I  trust,  thoroughly  purged.  To  Christ  do  I  owe  it 
that  once  worshipping  the  dumb  idols  of  Eoman  superstition, 
I  now  bow  down  to  the  only  living  and  invisible  God. " 

"  Away  with  him  to  the  tormentors !  "  came  from  a  hun 
dred  voices. 

"  To  Christ  do  I  owe  it,  O  prefect,  that  my  heart  is  not 
now  as  thine  or  his  who  sits  beside  thee,  or  as  that  of  these, 
hungering  and  thirsting,  never  after  righteousness,  but  for 
the  blood  of  the  innocent.  Shall  I  then  renounce  Christ,  and 
worship  that  ancient  adulterer,  Jupiter,  greatest  and  best  ?  " 

The  hall  here  rang  with  the  ferocious  cries  of  those  who 
shouted  :  "  Give  him  over  to  us  !  "  "  To  the  rack  with  him  ! " 
"  Tear  out  the  tongue  of  the  blaspheming  Galilean !  " 

"  Romans, "  cried  Varus,  rising  from  his  chair,  "  let  not 
your  zeal  for  the  gods  cause  you  to  violate  the  sanctity  of 
this  room  of  justice.  Fear  not  but  Varus,  who,  as  you 
well  know,  is  a  lover  of  the  gods,  his  country,  and  the 
city,  will  well  defend  their  rights  and  honours  against  who 
ever  shall  assail  them. " 

He  then  turned  to  Macer,  and  said, — 

"  I  should  ill  perform  my  duty  to  thee,  Christian,  did  I 
spare  any  effort  to  bring  thee  to  a  better  mind ;  ill  should 
I  perform  it  for  Eome,  did  I  not  use  all  the  means  by  the 
state  entrusted  to  me  to  save  her  citizens  from  errors  that, 
once  taking  root  and  growing  up  to  their  proper  height, 
would  soon  overshadow,  and  by  their  poisonous  neighbour 
hood  kill  that  faith  venerable  through  a  thousand  years, 
and  of  all  we  now  inherit  from  our  ancestors  of  greatest 
and  best  the  fruitful  and  divine  spring.  " 

"  There,  Romans,    spoke  a  Roman !  "   exclaimed  Fronto. 

As  Yarns  ended,  at  a  sign  and  a  word  from  him,  what 
seemed  the  solid  wall  of  the  room  in  which  we  were  sud 
denly  flew  up  upon  its  screaming  pulleys,  and  revealed 
another  apartment,  black  as  night,  save  here  and  there 
where  a  dull  torch  shed  just  light  enough  to  show  its  great 
extent,  and  set  in  horrid  array  before  us  engines  of  every 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  291 

kind  for  tormenting  criminals,  each  attended  by  its  half- 
naked  minister,  ready  at  a  moment's  warning  to  bind  the 
victim  and  put  in  motion  the  infernal  machinery.  At  this 
sight  a  sudden  faintness  overspread  my  limbs,  and  I  would 
willingly  have  rushed  from  the  hall ;  but  it  was  then 
made  impossible.  And  immediately  the  voice  of  the  pre 
fect  was  again  heard  :  — 

"  Again,  Christian,  with  Eome's  usual  mercy,  I  freely 
offer  to  thee  thy  life,  simply  on  the  condition,  easily  fulfilled 
by  thee,  for  it  asks  but  one  little  word  from  thy  lips,  that 
thou  do,  for  thy  own  sake  and  for  the  sake  of  Eome  which 
thou  sayest  thou  lovest,  renounce  Christ  and  thy  faith.  " 

"  I  have  answered  thee  once,  0  prefect.  Dost  thou  think 
so  meanly  of  me  as  to  suppose  that  what  but  now  I  affirmed 
I  will  now  deny,  and  only  for  this  show  of  iron  toys  and 
human  demons  set  to  play  them  ?  It  is  not  of  such  stuff 
Aurelian's  men  are  made,  much  less  the  soldiers  of  the 
cross.  For  the  love  I  bear  to  Eome  and  Christ,  and  even 
thee,  Varus,  I  choose  to  die. " 

"  Be  assured,  Christian,  I  will  not  spare  thee. " 

"  I  ask  it  not,  prefect ;  do  thy  worst ;  and  the  worst  is 
but  death,  which  is  life.  " 

"  Pangs  that  shall  keep  thee  hours  dying,  *  cried  the  pre 
fect  ;  "  thy  body  racked  and  rent,  torn  piecemeal  one  part 
from  another, — this  is  worse  than  death.  Bethink  thee 
well.  Do  not  believe  that  Varus  will  relent. " 

"  That  were  the  last  thing  to  find  faith  with  one  who 
knows  him  as  well  as  Macer  does, "  replied  the  Christian. 

A  flush  of  passion  passed  over  the  face  of  Varus.  But 
he  proceeded  in  the  same  even  tone :  — 

"  Is  thy  election  made,  Macer  ?  " 

"  It  is  made.  " 

"  Slaves, "  cried  the  prefect,  "  away  with  him  to  the  rack, 
and  ply  it  well. " 

"  Yes, "  repeated  Fronto,  springing  with  eager  haste  from 
his  seat,  that  he  might  lose  nothing  of  what  was  to  be  seen 
or  heard,  "  away  with  him  to  the  rack,  and  ply  it  well.  " 

Unmoved  and  unresisting,  his  face  neither  pale  nor  his 


292  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

limbs  trembling,  did  Macer  surrender  himself  into  the  hands 
of  those  horrid  ministers  of  a  cruel  and  bloody  supersti 
tion,  who  then  hastily  approached  him,  and  seizing  him, 
dragged  him  toward  their  worse  than  hell.  Accomplished 
in  their  art,  for  every  day  is  it  put  to  use,  Macer  was  in 
a  moment  thrown  down  and  lashed  to  the  iron  bars ;  when 
each  demon,  having  completed  the  preparation,  stood  lean 
ing  upon  his  wheel  for  a  last  sign  from  the  prefect.  It 
was  instantly  given,  and  while  the  breath  even  of  every 
being  in  the  vast  hall  was  suspended,  through  an  intense 
interest  in  the  scene,  the  creaking  of  the  engine  as  it  began 
to  turn  sounded  upon  the  brain  like  thunder.  Not  a  groan 
nor  a  sigh  was  heard  from  the  sufferer.  The  engine  turned 
till  it  seemed  as  if  any  body  or  substance  laid  upon  it  must 
have  been  wrenched  asunder.  Then  it  stopped.  And  the 
minutes  counted  to  me  like  hours  or  ages  ere  the  word  was 
given,  and  the  wheels,  unrestrained,  flew  back  again  to 
their  places.  Macer  was  then  unbound.  He  at  first  lay 
where  he  was  thrown  upon  the  pavement.  But  his  life 
was  yet  strong  within  his  iron  frame.  He  rose  upon  his 
feet,  and  was  again  led  to  the  presence  of  his  judges.  His 
eye  had  lost  nothing  of  its  wild  fire,  nor  his  air  anything 
of  its  lofty  independence. 

Varus  again  addressed  him. 

"  Christian,  you  have  felt  what  there  is  in  Eoman  jus 
tice  ;  reject  not  again  what  Eoman  mercy  again  offers  thee, 
—  life  freely,  and  honour  too,  if  thou  wilt  return  once 
more  to  the  bosom  of  the  fond  mother  who  reared  thee.  " 

"  Yes,  "  said  Fronto,  "  thy  mother  who  reared  thee  !  Die 
not  with  the  double  guilt  of  apostasy  and  ingratitude  upon 
thy  soul. " 

"  Varus, "  said  Macer,  "  art  thou  a  fool,  a  very  fool,  to 
deem  that  thy  word  can  weigh  more  with  me  than  Christ  ? 
Make  not  thyself  a  laughing-stock  to  me  and  such  Chris 
tians  as  may  be  here.  The  torments  of  thy  importunity 
are  worse  to  me  than  those  of  thy  engines. " 

"  I  wish  thee  well,  Macer ;  't  is  that  which  makes  me 
thus  a  fool.  * 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  293 

**  So,  Varus,  does  Satan  wish  his  victim  well,  to  whom 
he  offers  his  luscious  baits.  But  what  is  it  when  the  bait 
is  swallowed,  and  hell  is  all  that  has  been  gained  ?  What 
should  I  gain  but  to  live  with  thee,  0  fool  ?  " 

"  Think,  Macer,  of  thy  wife  and  children. " 

At  those  names  Macer  bent  his  head  and  folded  his 
hands  upon  his  breast,  and  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks. 
Till  then  there  had,  as  it  seemed,  been  a  blessed  forgetful- 
ness  of  all  but  himself  and  the  scene  before  him.  Varus, 
misinterpreting  this  his  silence,  and  taking  it  for  the  first 
sign  of  repentance,  hastily  cried  out,  — 

"  There  is  the  altar,  Macer.  Slave !  hold  to  him  the 
sacred  libation ;  he  will  now  pour  it  out. " 

Instantly  a  slave  held  out  to  him  a  silver  ladle  filled 
with  wine. 

Macer  at  the  same  instant  struck  it  with  his  long  arm, 
and  sent  it  whirling  to  the  ceiling. 

"  Bind  him  again  to  the  rack, "  cried  the  prefect,  leaping 
from  his  seat ;  "  and  let  him  have  it  till  the  nerves  break. :' 

Macer  was  again  seized  and  stretched  upon  the  iron 
frame,  —  this  time  upon  another,  of  different  construction 
and  greater  power.  Again  the  infernal  machine  was  worked 
by  the  ministering  servants,  and  as  it  was  wound  up,  in 
flicting  all  that  it  was  capable  of  doing  without  absolutely 
destroying  life,  groans  and  screams  of  fierce  agony  broke 
from  the  suffering  Christian.  How  long  our  ears  were  as 
sailed  by  those  terrific  cries,  I  cannot  say.  They  presently 
died  away,  as  I  doubted  not,  only  because  Macer  himself 
had  expired  under  the  torment.  When  they  had  wholly 
ceased,  the  engine  was  reversed  and  Macer  again  unbound. 
He  fell  lifeless  upon  the  floor.  Varus,  who  had  sat  the 
while  conversing  with  Fronto,  now  said,  — 

"  Revive  him,  and  return  him  hither.  " 

Water  was  then  thrown  upon  him,  and  powerful  drinks 
were  forced  down  his  throat.  They  produced  in  a  little 
while  their  intended  effect,  and  Macer  gave  signs  of  re 
turning  life.  He  presently  gazed  wildly  round  him,  and 
came  gradually  to  a  consciousness  of  where  and  what  he 


294  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

was.     His  limbs  almost  refused  their  office,  and  he  was 
supported  and  partly  lifted  to  the  presence  of  Varus. 

"  Now,  Galilean, "  cried  Varus,  "  how  is  it  with  thee  ?  " 

"  Better  than  with  thee,  I  trust  in  God.  " 

"  Wilt  thou  now  sacrifice  ?  " 

"  I  am  myself,  O  Varus,  this  moment  a  sacrifice,  well 
pleasing  and  acceptable  to  the  God  whom  I  worship  and 
the  Master  whom  I  serve. " 

"  Why,  Varus, "  said  Fronto,  "  do  we  bear  longer  his  in 
sults  and  impieties  ?  Let  me  strike  him  dead.  "  And  he 
moved  his  hand  as  if  to  grasp  a  concealed  weapon  with 
which  to  do  it. 

"  Nay,  nay ;  hold,  Fronto !  let  naught  be  done  in  haste 
or  passion,  but  all  calmly  and  in  order.  We  act  for  those 
who  are  present  as  well  as  for  ourselves.  " 

A  voice  from  a  dark  extremity  of  the  room  cried  out, — 

"  It  is  Macer,  O  prefect,  who  acts  for  us.  " 

The  face  of  Macer  brightened  up  as  if  he  had  suddenly 
been  encompassed  by  a  legion  of  friends.  It  was  the  first 
token  he  had  received  that  so  much  as  one  heart  in  the 
whole  assembly  was  beating  with  his.  He  looked  in 
stantly  to  the  quarter  whence  the  voice  came,  and  then, 
turning  to  the  prefect,  said,  — 

"  Yes,  Varus,  I  am  now  and  here  preaching  to  the  people 
of  Eome,  though  I  speak  never  a  word.  'Tis  a  sermon 
that  will  fall  deeper  into  the  heart  than  ten  thousand 
spoken  ones. " 

The  prefect  commanded  that  he  who  had  spoken  should 
be  brought  before  him.  But  upon  the  most  diligent  search, 
he  could  not  be  found. 

"  Christian, "  said  Varus,  "  I  have  other  pains  in  store, 
to  which  what  thou  hast  as  yet  suffered  is  but  as  the 
scratching  of  the  lion's  paw.  It  were  better  not  to  suffer 
them.  They  will  leave  no  life  in  thee.  Curse  Christ  — 
't  is  but  a  word  —  and  live.  " 

Macer  bent  his  piercing  eye  upon  the  prefect,  but  an 
swered  not. 

"  Curse  Christ,  and  live.  " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  295 

Macer  was  still  silent. 

"  Bring  in,  then, "  cried  the  prefect,  "  your  pincers, 
rakes,  and  shells;  and  we  will  see  what  they  may  have 
virtue  to  bring  forth. " 

The  black  messengers  of  death  hastened  at  the  word  from 
their  dark  recesses,  loaded  with  those  new  instruments  of 
torture,  and  stood  round  the  miserable  man. 

"  Now,  Macer, "  said  Varus  once  more,  "  acknowledge 
Jupiter  greatest  and  best,  and  thou  shalt  live.  " 

Macer  turned  round  to  the  people,  and  with  his  utmost 
voice  cried  out,  — 

"  There  is,  O  Eomans,  but  one  God ;  and  the  God  of 
Christ  is  he !  " 

No  sooner  had  he  uttered  those  words  than  Fronto 
exclaimed,  — 

"  Ah,  ha !  I  have  found  thee,  then  !  This  is  the  voice, 
thrice,  accursed !  that  came  from  the  sacred  Temple  of  the 
Sun  !  This,  Komans,  is  the  god  whose  thunder  turned  you 
pale !  " 

"  Had  it  been  my  voice  alone,  priest,  that  was  heard  that 
day,  I  had  been  accursed  indeed.  I  was  but  the  humble 
instrument  of  him  I  serve  —  driven  by  his  spirit.  It  was 
the  voice  of  God,  not  of  me. " 

"  These, "  said  Fronto,  "  are  the  Christian  devices,  by 
which  they  would  lead  blindfold  into  their  snares  you, 
Eomans,  and  your  children.  May  Christ  ever  employ  in 
Kome  a  messenger  cunning  and  skilful  as  this  prating  god, 
and  Hellenism  will  have  naught  to  fear.  " 

"  And, "  cried  Macer,  "  let  your  priests  be  but  like 
Fronto,  and  the  eyes  of  the  blindest  driveller  of  you  all 
will  be  unsealed.  Ask  Fronto  into  whose  bag  went  the 
bull's  heart  that  on  the  day  of  dedication  could  not  be 
found !  " 

"  Thou  liest,  Nazarene  !  " 

"  Ply  him  with  your  pincers, "  cried  Yarus ;  and  the 
cruel  irons  were  plunged  into  his  flesh.  Yet  he  shrunk 
not,  nor  groaned ;  but  his  voice  was  again  heard  in  the 
midst  of  the  torture,  — 


296  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  Ask  him  from  whose  robe  came  the  old  and  withered 
heart,  the  sight  of  which  so  unmanned  Aurelian.  " 

"  Dash  in  his  mouth, "  shrieked  Fronto,  "  and  stop  those 
lies,  blacker  than  hell !  " 

But  Macer  went  on,  while  the  irons  tore  him  in  every 
part. 

"  Ask  him,  too,  for  the  instructions  and  the  bribes  given 
to  the  haruspices,  and  to  those  who  led  the  beasts  up  to  the 
altar.  Though  I  die,  Eomaus,  I  have  left  the  proof  of  all 
this  in  good  hands.  I  stood  the  while  where  I  saw  it  all. " 

"  Thou  liest,  slave !  "  cried  the  furious  priest ;  and  at  the 
same  moment  springing  forward,  and  seizing  an  instrument 
from  the  hands  of  one  of  the  tormenters,  he  struck  it  into 
the  shoulder  of  Macer,  and  the  lacerated  arm  fell  from  the 
bleeding  trunk.  A  piercing  shriek  confessed  the  inflicted 
agony. 

"  Away  with  him !  "  cried  Yarus ;  "  away  with  him  to 
the  rack,  and  tear  him  joint  from  joint. " 

At  the  word  he  was  borne  bleeding  away,  but  not  insen 
sible  or  speechless.  All  along  as  he  went  his  voice  was 
heard  calling  upon  God  and  Christ,  and  exhorting  the 
people  to  abjure  their  idolatries. 

He  was  soon  stretched  again  upon  the  rack,  which  now 
quickly  finished  its  work ;  and  the  Christian  Macer,  after 
sufferings  which  I  knew  not  before  that  the  human  frame 
could  so  long  endure  and  live,  died  a  martyr  to  the  faith 
he  had  espoused,  —  the  last  words  which  were  heard 
throughout  the  hall  being  these :  — 

"  Jesus,  I  die  for  thee,  and  my  death  is  sweet !  " 

When  it  was  announced  to  the  prefect  that  Macer  was 
dead  he  exclaimed,  — 

"  Take  the  carcass  of  the  Christian  dog  and  throw  it 
upon  the  square  of  the  Jews ;  there  let  the  dogs  devour  it.  " 

Saying  which,  he  rose  from  his  seat,  and,  accompanied 
by  Fronto,  left  by  the  same  way  he  had  before  entered  the 
hall  of  judgment. 

Soon  as  he  had  withdrawn  from  the  apartment,  the  base 
rabble  that  had  filled  it,  and  had  glutted  their  savage  souls 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  297 

upon  the  horrors  of  that  scene,  cried  out  tumultuously  for 
the  body  of  the  Christian,  which  when  it  was  gladly  deliv 
ered  to  them  by  those  who  had  already  had  enough  of  it, 
they  thrust  hooks  into  it,  and  rushed  out,  dragging  it 
toward  the  place  ordained  for  it  by  the  prefect.  As  they 
came  forth  into  the  streets,  the  mob  increased  to  an  im 
mense  multitude  of  those  who  seemed  possessed  of  the  same 
spirit.  And  they  had  not  together  proceeded  far,  filling 
the  air  with  their  cries  and  uttering  maledictions  of  every 
form  against  the  unhappy  Christians,  before  a  new  horror 
was  proclaimed  by  that  bloodthirsty  crew.  For  one  of 
them  suddenly  springing  up  upon  the  base  of  one  of  the 
public  statues,  whence  he  could  be  heard  by  the  greater 
part,  cried  out, — 

"  To  the  house  of  Macer !  to  the  house  of  Macer !  " 

"  Ay,  ay, "  shouted  another,  "  to  the  house  of  Macer,  in 
the  ruins  behind  the  shop  of  Demetrius !  " 

"  To  the  house  of  Macer !  "  arose  then  in  one  deafening 
shout  from  the  whole  throng ;  and  filled  with  this  new 
frenzy,  maddened  like  wild  beasts  at  the  prospect  of  fresh 
blood,  they  abandoned  there  where  they  had  dragged  it  the 
body  of  Macer,  and  put  new  speed  into  their  feet  in  their 
haste  to  arrive  at  the  place  of  the  expected  sport.  I  knew 
not  then  where  the  ruins  were,  or  it  was  possible  that  I  might 
have  got  in  advance  of  the  mob,  and  given  timely  warning 
to  the  devoted  family.  Neither  did  I  know  any  to  whom 
to  apply  to  discharge  such  a  duty.  My  helplessness  and 
weakness  sat  upon  me  like  a  nightmare.  And  while  I  in 
wardly  mourned  at  this,  I  suffered  myself  to  be  borne 
along  with  the  rushing  crowd.  Their  merciless  threats, 
their  savage  language,  better  becoming  barbarians  than  a 
people  like  this,  living  in  the  very  centre  of  civilization, 
filled  me  with  an  undefinable  terror.  It  seemed  to  me  that 
within  reach  of  such  a  populace,  no  people  were  secure  of 
property  or  life. 

"  The  Christians, "  said  one,  "  have  had  their  day,  and  it 
has  been  a  long  one,  —  too  long  for  Eome.  Let  its  night 
now  come. " 


298  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  Yes, "  said  another,  "  we  will  all  have  a  hand  in  bring 
ing  it  on.  Let  every  Eoman  do  his  share,  and  they  may 
be  easily  rooted  out. " 

"  I  understand, "  said  another,  "  that  it  is  agreed  upon 
that  whatever  the  people  attempt  after  their  own  manner, 
as  in  what  we  are  now  about,  they  are  not  to  be  interfered 
with.  We  are  to  have  free  pasturage.  " 

"  Who  could  suppose, "  said  the  first,  "  it  should  be  dif 
ferent  ?  It  is  well  known  that  formerly,  though  there  has 
been  no  edict  to  the  purpose,  the  people  have  not  only  been 
permitted,  they  have  been  expected  to  do  their  part  of  the 
business  without  being  asked  or  urged.  I  daresay  if  we 
can  do  up  this  family  of  —  who  is  it  ?  " 

"  Macer,  the  Christian  Macer.  " 

"  —  we  shall  receive  the  thanks  of  Aurelian,  though  they 
be  not  spoken,  as  heartily  as  Varus.  That  was  a  tough 
old  fellow,  though.  They  say  he  has  served  many  years 
under  the  emperor,  and  when  he  left  the  army  was  in  a 
fair  way  to  rise  to  the  highest  rank.  Curses  upon  those 
who  made  a  Christian  of  him !  It  is  they,  not  Varus,  who 
have  put  him  on  the  rack.  But  see !  are  not  those  the 
ruins  we  seek  ?  I  hope  so,  for  I  have  run  far  enough.  " 

"  Yes, "  replied  his  companion ;  "  those  are  the  old  baths. 
Now  for  it !  " 

The  crowd  thereupon  abandoning  the  streets,  poured  it 
self  like  an  advancing  flood  among  the  ruins,  filling  all  the 
spaces,  and  mounting  upon  all  the  still  standing  fragments 
of  walls  and  columns.  It  was  not  at  all  evident  where  the 
house  of  the  Christian  was.  It  all  seemed  a  confusion  of 
ruins  and  of  dead  wall. 

"  Who  can  show  us, "  cried  out  one  who  took  upon  him 
self  the  office  of  leader,  "  where  the  dwelling  of  Macer  is  ?  " 

"  I  can, "  responded  the  slender  voice  of  a  little  boy ;  "  for 
I  have  often  been  there  before  they  became  Christians.  " 

"  Show  us,  then,  my  young  urchin ;  come  up  hither. 
Now,  lead  the  way,  and  we  will  follow.  " 

"  You  need  go  no  farther, "  replied  the  boy ;  "  that  is  it.  " 

"  That  ?     It  is  but  a  stone  wall !  " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  299 

"  Still  it  is  the  house, "  replied  the  child ;  "  but  the  door 
is  of  stone  as  well  as  the  walls. " 

At  that  the  crowd  began  to  beat  upon  the  walls,  and 
shout  to  those  who  were  within  to  come  forth.  They  had 
almost  wearied  themselves  out,  and  were  inclined  to  be 
lieve  that  the  boy  had  given  them  a  false  direction,  when, 
upon  a  sort  of  level  roof  above  the  projecting  mass  which 
served  as  the  dwelling,  a  female  form  suddenly  appeared, 
and  advancing  to  the  edge  —  not  far  above,  yet  beyond,  the 
reach  of  the  mob  below  —  she  beckoned  to  them  with  her 
hand,  as  if  she  would  speak  to  them. 

The  crowd,  soon  as  their  eyes  caught  this  new  object, 
ceased  from  their  tumultuous  cries  and  prepared  to  hear 
what  she  who  approached  them  thus  might  have  to  say. 
Some  indeed  immediately  began  to  hurl  missiles,  but  they 
were  at  once  checked  by  others,  who  insisted  that  she 
should  have  liberty  to  speak.  And  these  wretches  would 
have  been  more  savage  still  than  I  believed  them,  if  the 
fair  girl  who  stood  there  pleading  to  them  had  not  found 
some  favour.  Hers  was  a  bright  and  sparkling  counte 
nance  that  at  once  interested  the  beholder.  Deep  blushes 
spread  over  her  face  and  bosom,  while  she  stood  waiting 
the  pleasure  of  the  heaving  multitude  before  her. 

"  Ah !  ha !  "  cried  one ;  "  who  is  she  but  the  dancing 
girl  ^Elia  ?  she  is  a  dainty  bit  for  us !  Who  would  have 
thought  that  she  was  the  daughter  of  a  Christian  ?  " 

"  I  am  sorry  for  her, "  cried  another ;  "  she  is  too  pretty 
to  be  torn  in  pieces.  We  must  save  her.  " 

"  Say  on !  say  on !  "  now  cried  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
crowd,  as  silence  succeeded ;  "  we  will  hear  you.  " 

"  Whom  do  you  seek  for  ?  "  then  asked  .ZElia,  addressing 
him  who  had  spoken. 

"  You  know  well  enough,  my  pretty  girl, "  replied  the 
other.  "  We  seek  the  house  and  family  of  Macer  the  Chris 
tian.  Is  this  it  ?  and  are  you  of  his  household  ?  " 

"  This, "  she  replied,  "  is  the  house  of  Macer,  and  I  am 
his  daughter.  My  mother  with  all  her  children  are  below. 
And  now,  why  do  you  seek  us  thus  ?  " 


300  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  We  seek, "  replied  the  savage,  "  not  only  you,  but  your 
lives.  All  you  have  to  do  is  to  unbar  this  door  and  let  us 
in." 

Though  ^Elia  could  have  supposed  that  they  were  come 
for  nothing  else,  yet  the  brutal  announcement  of  the  terrible 
truth  drove  the  colour  from  her  cheeks,  and  caused  her 
limbs  to  tremble.  Yet  did  it  not  abate  her  courage,  nor 
take  its  energy  from  her  mind. 

"  Good  citizens  and  friends, "  said  she,  "  for  I  am  sure  I 
must  have  some  friends  among  you,  why  should  you  do  us 
such  wrong  ?  We  are  poor  and  humble  people,  and  have 
never  had  the  power,  if  the  will  had  been  ours,  to  injure 
you.  Leave  us  in  safety,  and  if  you  require  it  we  will 
abandon  our  dwelling,  and  even  our  native  Eome  —  for  we 
are  all  native  Eomans.  " 

"  That,  my  young  mistress,  will  not  serve  our  turn.  Aie 
you  not,  as  you  said,  the  family  of  the  Christian  Macer  ?  " 

"  Yes,  we  are.  " 

"  Well, "  answered  the  hard-hearted  wretch,  "  that  is  the 
reason  we  seek  after  you,  and  mean  to  have  you. " 

"  But, "  replied  the  girl,  "  there  must  be  many  among 
you  who  would  not  willingly  harm  either  Macer  or  any 
thing  that  is  his.  Macer  is  not  only  a  Christian,  Eomans, 
but  he  is  a  good,  warm-hearted  patriot  as  ever  was  born 
within  the  compass  of  these  walls.  Brutus  himself  never 
loved  freedom  nor  hated  tyrants  more  than  he.  " 

"  That 's  little  to  the  purpose  now-a-days, "  cried  one 
from  the  crowd. 

"  There  is  not  a  single  possession  he  has, "  continued 
^Elia,  "  save  only  his  faith  as  a  Christian,  which  he  would 
not  surrender  for  the  love  he  bears  to  Eome  and  to  every 
thing  that  is  Eoman.  Ever  since  he  was  strong  enough  to 
draw  and  wield  a  sword  has  he  been  fighting  for  you  the 
battles  of  our  country.  If  you  have  seen  him,  you  have 
seen  how  cruelly  the  weapons  of  the  enemy  have  hacked 
him.  On  every  limb  are  there  scars  of  wounds  received 
in  battle ;  and  twice,  once  in  Gaul  and  once  in  Asia,  has 
he  been  left  for  dead  upon  the  field.  It  was  in  Syria, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  301 

when  the  battle  raged  at  its  highest,  and  Carinus  was  sud 
denly  beset  by  more  than  he  could  cope  with,  and  had  else 
fallen  into  their  hands  a  prisoner,  or  been  quickly  de 
spatched,  that  Macer  came  up,  and  by  his  single  arm  saved 
his  general.  " 

"  A  great  pity  that ! "  cried  many  from  the  crowd. 

"  Macer, "  continued  JElia,  "  only  thought  that  Carinus 
then  represented  Eome,  and  that  his  life,  whatever  it  was, 
and  however  worthless  in  itself,  was  needful  for  Eome, 
and  he  threw  himself  into  the  breach  even  as  he  would 
have  done  for  Aurelian  or  Probus.  Was  not  his  virtue  the 
greater  for  that?  Was  he  to  feed  his  own  humour  and 
leave  Carinus  to  perish,  when  his  country  by  that  might 
receive  detriment  ?  Macer  has  never  thought  of  himself. 
Had  he  been  ambitious  as  some,  he  had  now  been  where 
Mucapor  is.  But  when  in  the  army,  he  always  put  by  his 
own  interests.  The  army,  its  generals,  and  Eome,  were 
all  in  all  with  him, — himself  nothing.  How,  citizens, 
can  you  wish  to  do  him  harm,  or  anything  that  is  his  ? 
And  even  as  a  Christian,  for  which  you  reproach  him  and 
now  seek  him,  it  is  still  the  same.  Believe  me  when  I 
say  that  it  is  because  of  his  love  of  you  and  Eome  that  he 
would  make  you  all  as  he  is.  He  honestly  thinks  that  it 
is  the  doctrine  of  Christ  which  can  alone  save  Eome  from 
the  destruction  which  her  sins  are  drawing  down  upon  her. 
He  has  toiled  from  morning  to  night,  all  day  and  all  night, 
harder  than  he  ever  did  upon  his  marches  either  in  Africa 
or  in  Asia,  that  you  might  be  made  to  know  what  this 
religion  of  Christ  is, — what  it  means,  what  it  will  be 
stow  upon  you  if  you  will  receive  it,  and  what  it  will  save 
you  from.  And  he  would  not  scruple  to  lose  his  life,  if  by 
so  doing  he  could  give  any  greater  efficacy  to  the  truth  in 
which  he  believes.  I  would  he  were  here  now,  Eomans, 
to  plead  his  own  cause  with  you.  I  know  you  would  so 
esteem  his  honesty,  and  his  warm  Eoman  heart,  that  you 
would  be  more  ready  to  serve  than  to  injure  him.  " 

Pity  stood  in  some  eyes,  but  impatience  and  anger  in 
more. 


302  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  Be  not  so  sure  of  that, "  cried  he  who  had  spoken  be 
fore.  "  No  true  Roman  can  love  a  Christian.  Christians 
are  the  worst  enemies  of  the  state.  As  for  Macer,  say  no 
more  of  him ;  he  is  already  done  for.  All  you  have  to  do 
is  to  set  open  the  door.  " 

"  What  say  you  of  Macer  ?  "  cried  the  miserable  girl, 
wringing  her  hands.  "  Has  any  evil  befallen  him  ?  " 

"  What  he  will  never  recover  from, "  retorted  the  bar 
barian.  "  Varus  has  just  had  him  on  one  of  his  iron  play 
things,  and  his  body  we  have  but  now  left  in  the  street 
yonder.  So  hasten !  " 

"  Oh,  worse  than  demons,  to  kill  so  good  a  man  !  "  cried 
^Elia,  the  tears  rolling  down  her  cheeks.  "  But  if  he  is 
dead,  come  and  take  us  too.  We  wish  not  now  to  live ; 
and  ready  as  he  was  to  die  for  Christ,  so  ready  are  we  also. 
Cease  your  blows,  and  I  will  open  the  door. " 

But  her  agency  in  that  office  was  no  longer  needed.  A 
huge  timber  had  been  brought  in  the  mean  time  from  the 
ruins,  and,  plied  by  a  hundred  hands  with  noisy  uproar, 
the  stone  door  soon  gave  way  just  as  ^Elia  descended,  and 
the  murderous  crew  rushed  in. 

The  work  of  death  was  in  part  quickly  done.  The  sons 
of  Macer,  who,  on  the  uproar,  had  instantly  joined  their 
mother,  in  spite  of  all  the  entreaties  of  Demetrius,  were  at 
once  despatched,  and  dragged  forth  by  ropes  attached  to 
their  feet.  The  two  youngest,  transfixed  by  spears,  were 
seen  borne  aloft,  as  bloody  standards  of  that  murderous  rout. 
The  mother  and  the  other  children,  placed  in  a  group  in 
the  midst  of  the  multitude,  were  made  to  march  on,  the 
savages  themselves  being  divided  as  to  what  should  be 
their  fate.  Some  cried  out,  "  To  the  Tiber !  "  some,  "  Cru 
cify  them  beyond  the  walls !  "  others,  "  Give  'em  the  pave 
ments!  "  But  the  voice  of  one  more  ingenious  in  cruelty 
than  the  rest  prevailed. 

"  To  the  square  by  Hanno's  with  them!  " 

This  proposition  filled  them  with  delight. 

"To  Hanno's!  to  Hanno's !"  resounded  on  all  sides. 
And  away  rushed  the  infuriated  mass  to  their  evil  sport. 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  303 

"  And  who  is  Hanno  ?  "  I  asked  of  one  near  me. 

"  Hanno !  know  you  not  Hanno  ?  He  is  brother  of  Sosia 
the  gladiator,  and  breeds  dogs  for  the  theatres.  You  shall 
soon  see  what  a  brood  he  will  turn  out.  There  is  no  such 
breeder  in  Rome  as  he. " 

Sick  at  heart  as  I  was,  I  still  pressed  on,  resolved  to 
know  all  that  Christian  heroism  could  teach  me.  We  were 
soon  at  the  square,  capable  of  holding  on  its  borders  not 
only  thousands,  but  tens  of  thousands,  to  which  number 
it  seemed  as  if  the  throng  had  now  accumulated.  Hanno's 
extensive  buildings  and  grounds  were  upon  one  side  of  the 
square,  to  which  the  people  now  rushed,  calling  out  for  the 
great  breeder  to  come  forth  with  his  pack. 

He  was  not  slow  in  obeying  the  summons.  He  himself 
appeared,  accompanied  by  his  two  dogs,  Nero  and  Sylla. 
After  first  stipulating  with  the  ringleaders  for  a  sufficient 
remuneration,*  he  proceeded  to  order  the  game.  He  was 
at  first  for  separating  the  victims,  but  they  implored  to  be 
permitted  to  suffer  together,  and  so  much  mercy  was  shown 
them.  They  were  then  set  together  in  the  centre  of  the 
square,  while  the  multitude  disposed  themselves  in  an 
immense  circle  around,  the  windows  of  the  buildings  and 
the  roofs  of  all  the  neighbouring  dwellings  being  also 
thronged  with  those  who  both  looked  on  and  applauded. 
Before  the  hounds  were  let  loose,  Hanno  approached  this 
little  band,  standing  there  in  the  midst  and  clinging  to 
one  another,  and  asked  them  if  they  had  anything  to  say, 
or  any  message  to  deliver,  for  he  would  faithfully  perform 
what  they  might  enjoin. 

The  rest  weeping,  ^Elia  answered  that  she  wished  to 
say  a  few  words  to  the  people  who  stood  around. 

"  Speak,  then, "  replied  Hanno,  "  and  you  shall  not  be 
disturbed. " 

She  then  turned  towards  the  people,  and  said,  "  I  can 
wish  you,  Romans,  before  I  die,  no  greater  good  than  that, 
like  me  and  those  who  are  with  me,  you  may  one  day  be 
come  Christians.  For  you  will  then  be  incapable  of  in 
flicting  such  sufferings  and  wrongs  upon  any  human  being. 


304  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

The  religion  of  Jesus  will  not  suffer  you  to  do  otherwise 
than  love  each  other  as  you  do  yourselves ;  that  is  the  great 
Christian  rule.  Be  assured  that  we  now  die  as  Christians, 
in  full  faith  in  Christ,  and  in  joyful  hope  of  living  with 
him,  so  soon  as  these  mortal  bodies  shall  have  perished, 
and  that  though  a  single  word  of  denial  would  save  us,  we 
would  not  speak  it.  Ye  have  cruelly  slaughtered  the 
good  Macer ;  do  so  now  by  us,  if  such  is  your  will,  and  we 
shall  then  be  with  him  where  he  is. " 

With  these  words  she  again  turned,  and  throwing  her 
arms  around  her  mother  and  younger  sisters,  awaited  the 
onset  of  the  furious  dogs,  whose  yellings  and  strugglings 
could  all  the  while  bo  heard.  She  and  they  waited  but  a 
moment,  when  the  bloodhounds,  fiercer  than  the  fiercest 
beasts  of  the  forest,  flew  from  their  leashes,  and  in  less 
time  than  would  be  believed,  nought  but  a  heap  of  bones 
marked  where  the  Christian  family  had  stood. 

The  crowds,  then  fully  sated  as  it  seemed  with  the  rare 
sport  of  the  morning,  dispersed,  each  having  something  to 
say  to  another  of  the  firmness  and  patriotism  of  Varus  and 
Fronto,  and  of  the  training  and  behaviour  of  the  dogs. 

From  the  earliest  period  of  reflection  have  I  detested  the 
Eoman  character;  and  all  that  I  have  witnessed  with  my 
own  eye  has  served  but  to  confirm  those  early  impressions. 
They  are  a  people  wholly  destitute  of  humanity.  They  are 
the  lineal  descendants  of  robbers,  murderers,  and  warriors, 
—  who  are  but  murderers  under  another  name,  —  and  they 
show  their  parentage  in  every  line  of  their  hard-featured 
visages,  and  still  more  in  all  the  qualities  of  the  soul. 
They  are  stern,  unyielding,  unforgiving,  cruel.  A  Eoman 
heart  dissected  would  be  found  all  stone.  Any  present 
purpose  of  passion,  or  ambition,  or  party  zeal,  will  extin 
guish  in  the  Eoman  all  that  separates  him  from  the  brute. 
Bear  witness  to  the  truth  of  this,  ye  massacres  of  Marius 
and  Sylla!  and  others,  more  than  can  be  named,  both  be 
fore  and  since,  —  when  the  blood  of  neighbours,  friends, 
and  fellow-citizens  was  poured  out  as  freely  as  if  it  had 
been  the  filthy  stream  that  gurgles  through  the  public 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  305 

sewers.  And,  in  good  sooth,  was  it  not  as  filthy  ?  For 
those  very  ones  so  slain,  had  the  turn  of  the  wheel  set 
them  uppermost,  would  have  done  the  same  deed  upon  the 
others.  Happy  is  it  for  the  peace  of  the  earth  and  the 
great  cause  of  humanity,  that  this  faith  of  Christ,  whether 
it  be  true  or  false,  is  at  length  bearing  sway,  and  doing 
somewhat  to  soften  what  more  than  twelve  centuries  have 
passed  over  and  left  in  its  original  hardness. 

When,  like  the  rest  of  that  Eoman  mob,  I  had  been 
filled  with  the  sights  and  sounds  of  the  morning,  I  turned 
and  sought  the  palace  of  Piso. 

Arriving  there,  I  found  Portia,  Julia,  and  Piso,  sitting 
together  at  the  hour  of  dinner.  I  sat  with  them.  Piso 
had  not  left  the  palace  since  I  had  parted  from  him.  They 
had  remained  at  peace  within,  and  as  ignorant  of  what  had 
happened  in  Eome  as  we  all  were  of  what  was  doing  in 
another  planet.  When,  as  the  meal  drew  to  a  close,  I  had 
related  to  them  the  occurrences  of  which  I  had  just  been 
the  witness,  they  could  scarce  believe  what  they  heard, 
though  it  was  but  what  they  and  all  had  every  reason  to 
look  for  from  the  language  which  Aurelian  had  used,  and 
the  known  hostility  of  the  prefect.  Portia,  the  mother, 
was  moved  more,  if  it  could  be  so,  than  even  Piso  or  Julia. 
When  I  had  ended,  she  said, — 

"  Think  not,  Nichomachus,  that  although,  as  thou  know- 
est,  I  am  of  Aurelian 's  side  in  religion,  I  defend  these  in 
human  wrongs.  To  inflict  them  can  make  no  part  of  the 
duty  of  any  worshipper  of  the  gods,  however  zealous  he 
may  be.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  gods  are  propitiated 
by  any  acts  which  occasion  suffering  to  their  creatures.  I 
have  seen  no  justification,  under  any  circumstances,  of 
human  sacrifices;  much  less  can  I  see  any  of  sacrifices 
like  those  you  have  this  morning  witnessed.  Aurelian  in 
authorizing  or  conniving  at  such  horrors  has  cut  himself 
loose  from  the  honour  and  the  affections  of  all  those  in 
Eome  whose  esteem  is  worth  possessing.  He  has  given 
himself  up  to  the  priesthood  and  to  the  vulgar  rabble,  over 
whom  it  exercises  a  sway  more  strict  than  an  Eastern 

20 


306  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

despot.  He  has  by  these  acts  turned  the  current  of  the  best 
Eoman  sympathy  toward  the  Christians,  and  put  off  by  a 
long  remove  the  hour  when  he  might  hope  to  see  the  an 
cient  religion  of  the  state  delivered  from  its  formidable 
rival. " 

"  It  is  the  purpose  of  Aurelian, "  I  said,  "  not  so  much  to 
persecute  and  annoy  the  Christians  as  to  exterminate  them. 
He  is  persuaded  that  by  using  the  same  extreme  and  sum 
mary  measures  with  the  Christians  which  he  has  been  ac 
customed  to  employ  in  the  army,  he  can  root  out  this  huge 
evil  from  the  state  as  easily  as  those  lesser  ones  from  the 
camp, —  without  reflecting  that  it  must  be  impossible  to  dis 
cover  all,  or  any  very  large  proportion  of  those  who  profess 
Christianity,  and  that  therefore  his  slaughter  of  a  half  or  a 
quarter  of  the  whole  number  will  be  to  no  purpose.  It 
will  have  been  but  killing  so  many  —  there  will  be  no 
other  effect ;  unless,  indeed,  it  have  the  effect  to  convince 
new  thousands  of  the  power,  and  worth,  and  divinity  of 
that  faith  for  which  men  are  so  willing  to  die. " 

"  I  mourn, "  said  Portia,  "  that  the  great  head  of  the  state 
and  the  great  high  priest  of  our  religion  should  have  taken 
the  part  he  has.  Measures  of  moderation  arid  true  wisdom, 
though  they  might  not  have  obtained  for  him  so  great  a 
name  for  zeal  and  love  of  the  gods,  nor  made  so  sudden 
and  deep  an  impression  upon  the  common  mind  and  heart, 
would  have  secured  with  greater  probability  the  end  at 
which  he  has  aimed. " 

"  It  is  hard, "  said  I,  "  to  resist  nature,  especially  so  when 
superstition  comes  in  to  its  aid.  Aurelian,  by  nature  a 
savage,  is  doubly  one  through  the  influence  of  his  religion 
and  the  priesthood.  Moderation  and  humanity  are  so  con 
trary  to  every  principle  of  the  man  and  his  faith  that  they 
are  not  with  more  reason  to  be  looked  for  from  him  than 
gentleness  in  a  half -starved  tiger. " 

Portia  looked  as  if  I  had  assailed  the  walls  and  Capitol 
of  Rome. 

"  I  know  not,  Greek, "  she  quickly  said,  "  on  what  foun 
dation  it  is  you  build  so  heavy  a  charge  against  the  time- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  307 

honoured  faith  of  Eome.  It  has  served  Rome  well  these 
thousand  years,  and  reared  men  whose  greatness  will  dwell 
in  the  memory  of  the  world  while  the  world  lasts. " 

"  Great  men  have  "been  reared  in  Rome, "  I  replied ;  "  it 
can  by  none  be  denied.  But  it  has  been  by  resisting  the 
influences  of  their  religion,  not  by  courting  them.  They 
have  left  themselves  in  this  to  the  safer  tutelage  of  nature, 
as  have  you,  lady ;  and  they  have  escaped  the  evils  which 
the  common  superstition  would  have  entailed  upon  them 
had  they  admitted  it  to  their  bosoms.  Who  can  deny  that 
the  religion  of  Rome,  so  far  as  it  is  a  religion  for  the  com 
mon  people,  is  based  upon  the  characters  of  the  gods,  as 
they  through  history  and  tradition  are  held  up  to  them,  - 
especially  as  they  are  painted  by  the  poets  ?  Say  if  there 
be  any  other  books  of  authority  on  this  great  theme  than 
the  poets.  What  book  of  religious  instruction  and  pre 
cept  have  you,  or  have  you  ever  had,  corresponding  to  the 
volume  of  the  Christians,  called  their  Gospels  ?  " 

"  We  have  none, "  said  Portia,  as  I  paused,  compelling  a 
rejoinder.  "  It  is  true,  we  have  but  our  historians  and  our 
poets,  with  what  we  find  in  the  philosophers. " 

"  And  the  philosophers, "  I  replied,  "  it  will  be  seen  at 
once,  can  never  be  in  the  hands  of  the  common  people. 
Whence,  then,  do  they  receive  their  religious  ideas  but 
from  tradition,  and  the  character  of  the  deities  of  heaven, 
as  they  are  set  forth  in  the  poets  ?  And  if  this  be  so,  I 
need  not  ask  whether  it  be  possible  that  the  religion  of 
Rome  should  be  any  other  than  a  source  of  corruption  to 
the  people.  So  far  as  the  gods  should  be  their  models, 
they  can  do  no  otherwise  than  help  to  sink  their  imitators 
lower  and  lower  in  all  filth  and  vice.  Happily  for  Rome  and 
the  world,  lady,  men  instinctively  revolt  at  such  examples, 
and  copy  instead  the  pattern  which  their  own  souls  supply. 
Had  the  Romans  been  all  which  the  imitation  of  their  gods 
would  have  made  them,  this  empire  had  long  ago  sunk  un 
der  the  deep  pollution.  Fronto  and  Aurelian,  the  last 
at  least  sincere,  aim  at  a  restoration  of  religion.  They 
would  lift  it  up  to  the  highest  place  and  make  it  the  sov- 


308  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

ereign  law  of  Rome.  In  this  attempt  they  are  uncon 
sciously  digging  away  her  very  foundations;  they  are 
levelling  her  proud  walls  with  the  earth.  Suppose  Rome 
were  made  what  Fronto  would  have  her;  every  Roman 
were  then  another  Fronto  or  another  Aurelian.  Were  that 
a  world  to  live  in  or  to  endure  ?  These,  lady,  are  the  ene 
mies  of  Rome,  —  Aurelian  and  Fronto.  The  only  hope  for 
Rome  lies  in  the  reception  of  some  such  principles  as  these 
of  the  Christians.  Whether  true  or  false,  they  are  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  best  part  of  our  nature,  and,  once  spread 
abroad  and  received,  they  would  tend  by  a  mighty  influence 
to  exalt  it  more  and  more.  They  would  descend,  as  it  is  of 
the  nature  of  absolute  truth  to  do,  and  lay  hold  of  the 
humblest  and  lowest  and  vilest,  and  in  them  erect  their 
authority,  and  bring  them  into  the  state  in  which  every 
man  should  be,  for  the  reason  that  he  is  a  man.  Hellen 
ism  cannot  do  this.  " 

"  Notwithstanding  what  I  have  heard,  Nichomachus,  I 
think  you  must  yourself  be  a  Christian.  But  whether  you 
are  or  not,  I  grant  you  to  understand  well  what  religion 
should  be.  And  I  must  say  that  it  has  ever  been  such  to 
me.  I,  from  what  I  have  read  of  our  moralists  and  phi 
losophers,  and  from  what  I  have  reflected,  have  arrived  at 
principles  not  very  different  from  such  as  you  have  now 
hinted  at. " 

"  And  are  those  of  Fronto  or  Varus  like  yours,  lady?  " 

"  I  fear  not, "  said  Portia. 

"  Yours,  then,  let  me  say,  form  the  religion  which  you 
have  first  found  within  your  own  breast,  a  gift  from  the 
gods,  and  then  by  meditation  have  confirmed  and  exalted ; 
theirs  the  common  faith  of  Rome.  Could  your  faith  rejoice 
in  or  permit  the  horrors  I  have  this  day  witnessed,  and  but 
now  described  ?  Yet  of  theirs  they  are  the  legitimate  fruit, 
the  necessary  product.  n 

*  Out  of  the  best, "  replied  Portia,  "  I  believe,  Nichoma- 
chus,  may  often  come  the  worst.  There  is  nought  so  per 
fect  and  so  wise  but  human  passions  will  mar  and  pervert 
it.  I  should  not  wonder  if,  in  ages  to  come,  this  peace- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  309 

loving  faith  of  the  Christians,  should  it  survive  so  long, 
should  itself  come  to  preside  over  scenes  as  full  of  misery 
and  guilt  as  those  you  have  to-day  seen  in  the  streets  of 
Eome. " 

"It  may  be,"  I  rejoined.  "But  it  is  nevertheless  our 
duty,  in  the  selection  of  our  principles,  to  take  those 
which  are  the  purest,  the  most  humane,  the  most  accordant 
with  what  is  best  in  us,  and  the  least  liable  to  perversion 
and  abuse.  And  whether,  if  this  be  just,  it  be  better  that 
mankind  should  have  presented  for  their  imitation  and 
honour  the  character  and  actions  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  those 
of  Jupiter  greatest  and  best,  may  be  left  for  the  simplest  to 
determine. " 

Portia  is  so  stanch  a  Koinan  that  one  cannot  doubt  that 
as  she  was  born  and  has  lived,  so  she  will  die,  —  a  Eoman. 
And  truth  to  say,  were  all  like  her  there  were  little  room 
for  quarrel  with  the  principles  that  could  produce  such  re 
sults.  But  for  one  such,  there  are  a  thousand  like  Varus, 
Fronto,  and  Aurelian. 

As  after  this  interview,  which  was  prolonged  till  the 
shades  of  evening  began  to  fall,  I  held  communion  with 
myself  on  the  way  to  the  quiet  retreats  of  Tibur,  I  could 
not  but  entertain  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  the  friends 
I  had  just  left.  I  felt  that  where  such  men  as  Varus  and 
Fronto  were  at  the  head  of  affairs,  wielding  almost  as  they 
pleased  the  omnipotence  of  Aurelian,  no  family  or  indi 
vidual,  of  whatever  name  or  rank,  could  feel  secure  of 
either  fortune  or  life.  I  had  heard,  indeed,  such  expres 
sions  of  regard  fall  from  the  emperor  for  Piso  and  his  beau 
tiful  wife  that  I  was  sure  that  if  any  in  Ptome  might  feel 
safe,  it  was  they.  Yet  why  should  he,  who  had  fallen 
upon  one  of  his  own  household,  and  such  a  one  as  Aurelia, 
hesitate  to  strike  the  family  of  Piso,  if  thereby  the  religion 
or  the  state  were  to  be  greatly  benefited  ?  I  could  see  a 
better  chance  for  them  only  in  the  emperor's  early  love  of 
Julia,  which  still  seemed  to  exercise  over  him  a  singular 
power. 

The  queen,  I  found,  upon  naming  to  her  the  subject  of 


310  LETTERS   FROM   ROME. 

my  thoughts,  could  entertain  none  of  my  apprehensions. 
It  is  so  difficult  for  her  nature  to  admit  the  faintest  pur 
pose  of  the  infliction  of  wanton  suffering  that  she  cannot 
believe  it  of  others.  Notwithstanding  her  experience  of 
the  harsh  and  cruel  spirit  of  Aureliaii,  notwithstanding 
the  unnecessary  destruction,  for  any  national  or  political 
object,  of  the  multitudes  of  Palmyra,  still  she  inclines  to 
confide  in  him.  He  has  given  so  many  proofs  of  regret 
for  that  wide  ruin,  he  has  suffered  so  much  for  it,  es 
pecially  for  his  murder  of  Longinus,  in  the  opinion  of  all 
Eome  and  of  the  highest  and  best  in  all  nations,  that  she 
is  persuaded  he  will  be  more  cautious  than  ever  whom  he 
assails,  and  where  he  scatters  ruin  and  death.  Still,  such 
is  her  devotion  to  Julia  and  her  love  of  Piso,  so  entirely 
is  her  very  life  lodged  in  that  of  her  daughter,  that  she 
resolved  to  seek  the  emperor  without  delay,  and  if  possible 
obtain  an  assurance  of  their  safety,  both  from  his  own  arm 
and  that  of  popular  violence.  This  I  urged  upon  her  with 
all  the  freedom  I  might  use,  and  not  in  vain ;  for  the  next 
day,  at  the  gardens  of  Sallust,  she  had  repeated  interviews 
with  Aurelian,  and  afterwards  at  her  own  palace,  whither 
Aurelian  came  with  Livia,  and  where,  while  Livia  ranged 
among  the  flowers  with  Faustula,  the  emperor  and  the 
queen  held  earnest  discourse,  not  only  on  the  subject  which 
chiefly  agitated  Zenobia,  but  on  the  general  principles  on 
which  he  was  proceeding  in  this  attempted  annihilation  of 
Christianity.  Sure  I  am  that  never  in  the  Christian  body 
itself  was  there  one  who  pleaded  their  cause  with  a  more 
winning  and  persuasive  eloquence. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  311 


LETTER  X. 

FROM   PISO  TO  FAUSTA. 

CURIO'S  NEWS.  —  FRONTO  SLANDERS  THE  CHRISTIANS.  —  AURELIAN 
GIVES  AUDIENCE  TO  THE  CHRISTIANS.  —  PROBUS  DEFENDS 
THEM.  —  PORPHYRUS.  —  THE  COUNSEL  OF  GOD.  —  STORY  OF 
THE  CROSS.  —  AURELIAN  CLOSES  THE  AUDIENCE.  —  EFFECT 
OF  PROBUS'S  SPEECH  ON  THE  PATRICIANS.  —  LIVIA'S  INTERCES 
SION.  —  AURELIAN'S  EVIL  GENIUS. 

I  WRITE  to  you,  Fausta,  by  the  hands  of  Vabalathus, 
who  visits  Palmyra  on  his  way  to  his  new  kingdom. 
I  trust  you  will  see  him.  The  adversities  of  his  family 
and  the  misfortunes  of  his  country  have  had  most  useful 
effects  upon  his  character.  He  has,  though  the  time  has 
been  so  short,  done  much  to  redeem  himself.  Always  was 
he,  indeed,  vastly  superior  to  his  brothers ;  but  now  he  is 
not  only  that,  but  very  much  more.  Qualities  have  un 
folded  themselves,  and  affections  and  tastes  warmed  into 
life,  which  we  —  none  of  us,  I  believe  —  so  much  as  sus 
pected  the  existence  of.  Zenobia  has  grown  to  be  devot 
edly  attached  to  him,  and  to  repose  the  same  sort  of 
confidence  in  him  as  formerly  in  Julia.  All  this  makes 
her  the  more  reluctant  to  part  with  him ;  but  as  it  is  for  a 
throne,  she  acquiesces.  He  carries  away  from  Rome  with 
him  one  of  its  most  beautiful  and  estimable  women,  the 
youngest  daughter  of  the  venerable  Tacitus,  to  whom  he 
has  just  been  married.  In  her  you  will  see  an  almost  too 
favourable  specimen  of  Roman  women. 

Several  days  have  elapsed  since  I  wrote  to  you,  giving 
an  account  of  the  sufferings  and  death  of  the  Christian 
Macer,  as  I  learned  them  from  those  who  were  present,  for 
a  breach  of  the  late  edicts,  and  for  sacrilegiously,  as  the 
laws  term  it,  tearing  down  the  parchment  containing  them 


312  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

from  one  of  the  columns  of  the  Capitol.  During  this  period 
other  horrors  of  the  same  kind  have  been  enacted  in  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  city.  Macer  is  not  the  only  one  who  has 
already  paid  for  his  faith  with  his  life.  All  the  restraints 
of  the  law  seem  to  be  withdrawn,  not  confessedly  but  vir 
tually,  and  the  Christians  in  humble  condition  —  and  such 
for  the  most  part  we  are  —  are  no  longer  safe  from  violence 
in  the  streets  of  Eome.  Although,  Fausta,  you  believe  not 
with  us,  you  must  scarcely  the  less  for  that  pity  us  in  our 
present  straits.  Can  the  mind  picture  to  itself,  in  some 
aspects  of  the  case,  a  more  miserable  lot  ?  Were  the  times 
even  at  the  worst  so  full  of  horror  in  Palmyra  as  now  here 
in  Eome  ?  There,  if  the  city  were  given  up  to  pillage,  the 
citizen  had  at  least  the  satisfaction  of  dying  in  the  excite 
ment  of  a  contest,  and  in  the  defence  of  himself  and  his 
children.  Here  the  prospect  is  —  the  actual  scene  is  al 
most  arrived  and  present  —  that  all  the  Christians  of  Eome 
will  be  given  over  to  the  butchery,  first  of  the  prefect's 
court  and  others  of  the  same  character  established  through 
out  the  city  for  the  express  purpose  of  trying  the  Chris 
tians,  and  next  to  that  of  the  mob,  commissioned  with 
full  powers  to  search  out,  find,  and  slay  all  who  bear  the 
hated  name.  The  Christians,  it  is  true,  die  for  a  great 
cause.  In  that  cause  they  would  rather  die  than  live. 
But  still  death  is  not  preferred;  much  less  is  death,  in 
the  revolting  and  agonizing  form  which  chiefly  these  vol 
untary  executioners  choose,  to  be  viewed  in  any  other  light 
than  an  evil  too  great  almost  to  be  endured. 

It  would  astonish  you,  I  think,  and  give  you  conceptions 
of  the  power  of  this  religion  such  as  you  have  never  had  as 
yet,  could  you,  with  me,  look  into  the  bosom  of  these 
thousand  Christian  families,  and  behold  the  calmness  and 
the  fortitude  with  which  they  await  the  approaching  ca 
lamities.  There  is  now,  as  they  believe,  little  else  before 
them  but  death,  and  death  such  as  a  foretaste  has  been 
given  of  in  the  sufferings  of  Macer.  Yet  are  they,  with 
wonderfully  few  exceptions,  here  in  their  houses,  prepared 
for  whatever  may  betide,  and  resolved  that  they  will  die 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  313 

for  Him  unto  whom  they  have  lived.  This  unshrinking 
courage,  this  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  is  the  more  wonderful 
as  it  is  now  the  received  belief  that  they  would  not  forfeit 
their  Christian  name  or  hope  by  withdrawing,  before  the 
storm  bursts,  from  the  scene  of  danger. 

There  have  been  those  in  the  Church,  and  some  there  are 
now,  who  would  have  all  who  in  time  of  persecution  seek 
safety  in  flight,  or  by  any  form  of  compromise,  visited 
with  the  severest  censures  the  Church  can  inflict,  and  for 
ever  after  refused  re-admission  to  the  privileges  which  they 
once  enjoyed.  Paying  no  regard  to  the  peculiar  tempera 
ment  and  character  of  the  individual,  they  would  compel 
all  to  remain  fixed  at  their  post,  inviting,  by  a  needless 
ostentation  of  their  name  and  faith,  the  search  and  assault 
of  the  enemy.  Macer  was  of  this  number.  Happily  they 
are  now  few ;  and  the  Christians  are  left  free,  free  from 
the  constraint  of  any  tyrant  opinion,  to  act  according  to 
the  real  feeling  of  the  heart.  But  does  this  freedom  carry 
them  away  from  Rome  ?  Does  it  show  them  to  the  world 
hurrying  in  crowds  by  day,  or  secretly  flying  by  night, 
from  the  threatened  woes  ?  Not  so.  All  who  were  here 
when  these  troubles  first  began  are  here  now,  or  with  few 
arid  inconsiderable  exceptions,  —  fewer  than  I  could  wish. 
All  who  have  resorted  to  me  under  these  circumstances  for 
counsel  or  aid  have  I  advised,  if  flight  be  a  possible  thing 
to  them,  that  they  should  retreat  with  their  children  to 
some  remote  and  secluded  spot,  and  wait  till  the  tempest 
shall  have  passed  by.  Especially  have  I  so  advised  and 
urged  all  whom  I  have  known  to  be  of  a  sensitive  and 
timid  nature,  or  bound  by  ties  of  more  than  common  in 
terest  and  necessity  to  large  circles  of  relatives  and  depen 
dants.  I  have  aimed  to  make  them  believe  that  little  gain 
would  accrue  to  the  cause  of  Christ  from  the  addition  of 
them  and  theirs  to  the  mass  of  sufferers,  when  that  mass 
is  already  so  large;  whereas  great  and  irreparable  loss 
would  follow  to  the  community  of  their  friends  and  of  the 
Christians  who  should  survive.  They  would  do  an  equal 
service  to  Christ  and  his  Church  by  living,  and  on  the  first 


314  LETTEES  FROM  ROME. 

appearance  of  calmer  times  re -assuming  their  Christian 
name  and  profession,  and  being  a  centre  about  which  there 
might  gather  together  a  new  multitude  of  believers.  If 
still  the  enemies  of  Christ  should  prevail,  and  a  day  of  rest 
never  dawn  or  arise,  they  might  then,  when  hope  was  dead, 
come  forth  and  add  themselves  to  the  innumerable  com 
pany  of  those  born  of  heaven,  who  hold  life  and  all  its  joys 
and  comforts  as  dross  in  comparison  with  the  perfect  integ 
rity  of  the  mind.  By  such  statements  have  I  prevailed 
with  many.  Probus,  too,  has  exerted  his  powTer  in  the 
same  direction,  and  has  enjoyed  the  happiness  of  seeing 
safely  embarked  for  Greece  or  Syria  many  whose  lives  in  the 
coming  years  will  be  beyond  price  to  the  then  just  surviv 
ing  Church. 

Yet  do  not  imagine,  Fausta.  that  we  are  an  immaculate 
people  ;  that  the  weaknesses  and  faults  which  seem  universal 
to  mankind  are  not  to  be  discovered  in  us ;  that  we  are  all 
what  by  our  acknowledged  principles  we  ought  to  be.  We 
have  our  traitors  and  our  renegades,  our  backsliders  and 
our  well-dissembling  hypocrites ;  but  so  few  are  they  that 
they  give  us  little  disquiet,  and  bring  no  discredit  upon  us 
with  the  enemy.  And  besides  these,  there  wrill  now  be 
those,  as  in  former  persecutions,  who,  as  the  evil  day  ap 
proaches,  will,  through  the  operation  simply  of  their 
fears,  renounce  their  name  and  faith.  Of  the  former,  some 
have  already  made  themselves  conspicuous,  —  conspicuous 
now  by  their  cowardly  and  hasty  apostasy,  as  they  were 
before  by  a  narrow,  contentious,  and  restless  zeal.  Among 
others,  the  very  one  who,  on  the  evening  when  the  Chris 
tians  assembled  in  the  baths  by  Macer's,  was  so  forward  to 
assail  the  faith  of  Probus,  and  who  ever  before  on  other 
occasions,  when  a  display  could  by  any  possibility  be  made 
of  devotion  to  his  party,  or  an  ostentatious  parade  of  his 
love  of  Christ,  was  always  thrusting  himself  upon  the  no 
tice  of  our  body,  and  clamouring  for  notoriety,  has  already 
abandoned  us,  and  sought  safety  in  apostasy.  Others  of 
the  same  stamp  have  in  like  manner  deserted  us.  They 
are  neither  lamented  by  us  nor  honoured  by  the  other  party. 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  315 

It  is  said  of  him  whom  I  have  just  spoken  of  that  soon  as 
he  had  publicly  renounced  Christ  and  sacrificed,  hisses  and 
yells  of  contempt  broke  from  the  surrounding  crowds.  He, 
it  doubtless  occurred  to  them,  who  had  so  proved  himself 
weak,  cowardly,  and  faithless  to  one  set  of  friends,  could 
scarcely  be  trusted  as  brave  and  sincere  by  those  to  whom 
he  then  joined  himself.  There  are  no  virtues  esteemed  by 
the  Eomans  like  courage  and  sincerity.  This  trait  in  their 
character  is  greatly  in  our  favour.  For  much  as  they  de 
test  our  superstitions,  they  so  honour  our  fortitude  under 
suffering,  that  a  deep  sympathy  springs  up  almost  uncon 
sciously  in  our  behalf.  Half  of  those  who  on  the  first  out 
break  of  these  disorders  would  have  been  found  bitterly 
hostile,  if  their  hearts  could  be  scanned  now  or  when  this 
storm  shall  have  passed  by,  would  be  found  most  warmly 
with  us,  —  not  in  belief,  but  in  a  fellow-feeling,  which  is 
its  best  preparation  and  almost  certain  antecedent.  Even 
in  such  an  inhuman  rabble  as  perpetrated  the  savage  mur 
der  of  the  family  of  Macer,  there  were  thousands  who,  then 
driven  on  by  the  fury  of  passion,  will,  as  soon  as  reflection 
returns,  bear  testimony,  in  a  wholly  altered  feeling  toward 
us,  to  the  power  with  which  the  miraculous  serenity  and 
calm  courage  of  those  true  martyrs  have  wrought  within 
them.  No  others  are  now  spoken  of  in  Rome  but  Macer 
and  his  heroic  wife  and  children. 

Throughout  the  city  it  is  this  morning  current  that  new 
edicts  are  to  be  issued  in  the  course  of  the  day.  Milo, 
returning  from  some  of  his  necessary  excursions  into  the 
more  busy  and  crowded  parts  of  the  city,  says  that  it  is 
confidently  believed.  I  told  him  that  I  could  scarcely 
think  it,  as  I  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  emperor  had 
engaged  that  they  should  not  be  as  yet. 

"  An  emperor,  surely, "  said  Milo,  "  may  change  his  mind 
if  he  lists.  He  is  little  better  than  the  rest  of  us,  if  he 
have  not  so  much  power  as  that.  I  think  if  I  were  em 
peror,  it  would  be  my  chief  pleasure  to  do  and  say  one 
thing  to-day  and  just  the  contrary  thing  to-morrow,  with 
out  being  obliged  to  give  a  reason  for  it.  If  there  be  any- 


316  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

thing  that  makes  slavery,  it  is  this  rendering  a  reason.  In 
the  service  of  the  most  noble  Gallienus  fifty  slaves  were 
subject  to  me,  and  never  was  I  known  to  render  a  reason 
for  a  single  office  I  put  them  to.  That  was  being  nearer 
an  emperor  than  I  fear  I  shall  ever  be  again. " 

"  I  hope  so,  Milo, "  I  said.  "  But  what  reason  have  you 
to  think,  if  you  will  render  a  reason,  that  Aurelian  has 
changed  his  mind  ?  " 

"  I  have  given  proof, "  answered  Milo,  "  have  I  not,  that 
if  anything  is  known  in  Rome,  it  is  known  by  Curio  ?  " 

"  I  think  you  have  shown  that  he  knows  some  things. " 

"  He  was  clearly  right  about  the  sacrifices, "  responded 
Milo,  "  as  events  afterwards  declared.  Just  as  many  suf 
fered  as  he  related  to  me.  What  now  he  told  me  this 
morning  was  this :  that  certain  persons  would  find  them 
selves  mistaken ;  that  some  knew  more  than  others ;  that 
the  ox  led  to  the  slaugher  knew  less  than  the  butcher ;  that 
great  persons  trusted  not  their  secrets  to  every  one ;  em 
perors  had  their  confidants,  and  Fronto  had  his.  " 

"  Was  that  all  ?  "  I  patiently  asked. 

"  I  thought,  noble  sir, "  he  replied,  "  that  it  was ;  for 
upon  that  he  only  sagaciously  shook  his  head,  and  was 
silent.  However,  as  I  said  nothing,  knowing  well  that 
some  folks  would  die  if  they  retained  a  secret,  though  they 
never  would  part  with  it  for  the  asking,  Curio  began  again, 
soon  as  he  despaired  of  any  question  from  me,  and  said  he 
could  tell  me  what  was  known  but  to  three  persons  in 
Rome.  His  wish  was  that  I  should  ask  him  who  they 
were,  but  I  did  not,  but  began  a  new  bargain  with  a  man 
for  his  poultry,  —  we  were  in  the  market.  He  then  began 
himself,  and  said,  '  Who  think  you  they  were  ? '  But  I 
answered  not.  '  Who, '  he  then  whispered  in  my  ear,  '  but 
Aurelian,  Fronto,  and  myself ! '  Then  I  gratified  him  by 
asking  what  the  secret  was,  for  if  it  had  anything  to  do 
with  the  Christians  I  should  like  to  know  it.  'I  will  tell 
it  to  thee, '  he  said,  '  but  to  no  other  in  Rome,  and  to  thee 
only  on  the  promise  that  it  goes  in  at  thy  ear,  but  not  out 
at  thy  mouth. '  I  said  that  I  trusted  that  I,  who  had  kept 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  317 

I  dared  hardly  say  how  many  years,  and  kept  them  still, 
the  secrets  of  Gallienus,  should  know  how  to  keep  and  how 
to  reveal  anything  he  had  to  say.  Whereupon,  without 
any  more  reserve,  he  assured  me  that  Fronto  had  persuaded 
the  emperor  to  publish  new  and  more  severe  edicts  before 
the  sixth  hour,  telling  him,  as  a  reason  for  it,  that  the 
Christians  were  flying  from  Eome  in  vast  numbers;  that 
every  night,  they  having  first  passed  the  gates  in  the  day, 
multitudes  were  hastening  into  the  country,  making  for 
Gaul  and  Spain,  or  else  embarking  in  vessels  long  prepared 
for  such  service  on  the  Tiber;  that  unless  instantly  ar 
rested,  there  would  be  none,  or  few,  for  the  edicts  to  oper 
ate  upon,  and  then,  when  all  had  become  calm  again,  and 
he  —  Aurelian  —  were  dead,  and  another  less  pious  upon 
the  throne,  they  would  all  return,  and  Eome  swarm  with 
them  as  before.  Curio  said  that  when  the  emperor  heard 
this  he  broke  out  into  a  wild  and  furious  passion.  He 
swore  by  the  great  god  of  light  —  which  is  an  oath,  Curio 
says,  he  never  uses  but  he  keeps  —  that  you,  sir,  Piso,  had 
deceived  him,  had  cajoled  him ;  that  you  had  persuaded 
him  to  wait  and  hear  what  the  Christians  had  to  say  for 
themselves  before  they  were  summarily  dealt  with,  which 
he  had  consented  to  do,  but  which  he  now  saw  was  a  device 
to  gain  time  by  which  all,  or  the  greater  part,  might  escape 
secretly  from  the  capital.  He  then,  with  Fronto  and  the 
secretaries,  prepared  and  drew  up  new  edicts,  declaring 
every  Christian  an  enemy  of  the  state  and  of  the  gods,  and 
requiring  them  everywhere  to  be  informed  against,  and, 
upon  conviction  of  being  Christians,  to  be  thrown  into 
prison,  and  await  there  the  judgment  of  the  emperor. 
These  things,  sir,  are  what  I  learned  from  Curio,  which  I 
make  no  secret  of  for  many  reasons.  I  trust  you  will  be 
lieve  them,  for  I  heard  the  same  story  all  along  the  streets, 
and  mine  is  better  worthy  of  belief  only  because  of  where 
and  whom  it  comes  from.  " 

I  told  Milo  that  I  could  not  but  suppose  there  was  some 
thing  in  it,  as  I  had  heard  the  rumour  from  several  other 
sources ;  that  if  Curio  spoke  the  truth,  it  was  worse  than 
I  had  apprehended. 


318  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

Putting  together  what  was  thus  communicated  by  Milo 
and  what,  as  he  said,  was  to  be  heard  anywhere  in  the 
streets,  I  feared  that  some  dark  game  might  indeed  be 
playing  by  the  priest  against  us,  by  which  our  lives  might 
be  sacrificed  even  before  the  day  were  out. 

"  Should  you  not, "  said  Julia,  "  instantly  seek  Aurelian  ? 
If  what  Milo  has  said  possess  any  particle  of  truth,  it  is 
most  evident  the  emperor  has  been  imposed  upon  by  the 
lies  of  Fronto.  He  has  cunningly  used  his  opportunities  ; 
and  you,  Lucius,  except  he  be  instantly  undeceived,  may  be 
the  first  to  feel  his  power.  " 

While  she  was  speaking,  Probus,  Felix,  and  others  of 
the  principal  Christians  of  Eome,  entered  the  apartment. 
Their  faces,  and  their  manner,  and  their  first  words,  de 
clared  that  the  same  conviction  possessed  them  as  us. 

"  We  are  constrained, "  said  Felix,  "  thus  with  little  cer 
emony,  noble  Piso,  to  intrude  upon  your  privacy.  But  in 
truth  the  affair  we  have  come  upon  admits  not  of  ceremony 
or  delay. " 

"  Let  there  be  none,  then,  I  pray,  and  let  us  hear  at  once 
what  concerns  us  all.  " 

"  It  is  spread  over  the  city, "  replied  the  bishop,  "  that 
before  the  sixth  hour  edicts  are  to  be  issued  that  will  go 
to  the  extreme  we  have  feared,  —  affecting  the  liberty  and 
life  of  every  Christian  in  Eome.  We  find  it  hard  to  be 
lieve  this,  however,  as  it  is  in  the  face  of  what  Aurelian 
has  most  expressly  stipulated.  It  is  therefore  the  wish 
and  prayer  of  the  Christians  that  you,  being  nearer  to  him 
than  any,  should  seek  an  interview  with  him,  and  then 
serve  our  cause  in  such  manner  and  by  such  arguments  as 
you  best  can. " 

ft  This  is  what  we  desire,  Piso, "  said  they  all. 

I  replied  that  I  would  immediately  perform  that  which 
they  desired,  but  that  I  would  that  some  other  of  our  num 
ber  should  accompany  me.  Whereupon  Felix  was  urged  to 
join  me ;  and  consenting,  we  at  the  moment  departed  for 
the  palace  of  Aurelian. 

On  arriving  at  the  gardens,  it  was  only  by  urgency  that 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  319 

I  obtained  admission  to  the  presence  of  the  emperor.  But 
upon  declaring  that  I  came  upon  an  errand  that  nearly  con 
cerned  himself  and  Rome,  I  was  ordered  to  be  brought 
into  his  private  apartment. 

As  I  entered,  Aurelian  quickly  rose  from  the  table  at 
which  he  had  been  sitting,  on  the  other  side  of  which  sat 
Fronto.  None  of  the  customary  urbanity  was  visible  in 
his  deportment ;  his  countenance  was  dark  and  severe,  his 
reception  of  me  cold  and  stately,  his  voice  more  harsh  and 
bitter  than  ever.  I  could  willingly  have  excused  the  pres 
ence  of  the  priest. 

"  Ambassadors, "  said  Aurelian,  inclining  toward  us,  "  I 
may  suppose,  from  the  community  of  Christians  ?  " 

"  We  came  at  their  request, "  I  replied.  "  Humours  are 
abroad  through  the  city,  too  confidently  reported  and  too 
generally  credited  to  be  regarded  as  wholly  groundless,  yet 
which  it  is  impossible  for  those  who  know  Aurelian  to  be 
lieve,  asserting  that  to-day  edicts  are  to  be  issued  affecting 
both  the  liberty  and  the  lives  of  the  Christians. " 

"  I  would,  Piso,  that  rumour  were  never  farther  from  the 
truth  than  in  this.  " 

"  But, "  I  rejoined,  "  has  not  Aurelian  said  that  he  would 
proceed  against  them  no  farther  till  he  had  first  heard  their 
defence  from  their  own  organs  ?  " 

"  Is  it  one  party  only,  in  human  affairs,  young  Piso, "  he 
sharply  replied,  "  that  must  conform  to  truth  and  keep 
inviolate  a  plighted  word  ?  Is  deception  no  vice  when  it  is 
a  Christian  who  deceives  ?  I  indeed  said  that  I  would  hear 
the  Christians,  though  when  I  made  that  promise  I  also 
said  that  'twould  profit  them  nothing;  but  I  then  little 
knew  why  it  was  that  Piso  was  so  urgent.  " 

"  Truth, "  I  replied,  "  cannot  be  received  from  some  quar 
ters,  any  more  than  sweet  and  wholesome  water  through 
poisoned  channels.  Even,  Aurelain,  if  Fronto  designed 
not  to  mislead,  no  statement  passing  through  his  lips,  if 
it  concerned  the  Christians,  could,  do  so  without  there 
being  added  to  it  or  lost  from  it  much  that  properly  be 
longed  to  it.  I  have  heard  that,  too,  which  I  may  suppose 


320  LETTERS    FROM  ROME. 

has  been  poured  into  the  mind  of  Aurelian,  to  fill  it  with 
a  bitterer  enmity  still  toward  the  Christians, — that  the 
Christians  have  sought  this  delay  only  that  they  might  use 
the  opportunities  thus  afforded  to  escape  from  his  power ; 
and  that  using  them,  they  have  already  in  the  greater  part 
fled  from  the  capital,  leaving  to  the  emperor  of  all  the 
world  but  a  few  old  women  and  children  upon  whom  to 
wreak  his  vengeance.  How  does  passion  bring  its  film 
over  the  clearest  mind  !  How  does  the  eye  that  will  not 
see,  shut  out  the  light,  though  it  be  brighter  than  that  of 
day !  It  had  been  wiser  in  Aurelian,  as  well  as  more  mer 
ciful,  first  to  have  tried  the  truth  of  what  has  thus  been 
thrust  upon  his  credulity,  ere  he  made  it  a  ground  of  ac 
tion.  True  himself,  he  suspects  not  others ;  but  suspicion 
were  sometimes  a  higher  virtue  than  frank  confidence.  Had 
Aurelian  but  looked  into  the  streets  of  Eome,  he  could  not 
but  have  seen  the  grossness  of  the  lie  that  has  been  palmed 
upon  his  too  willing  ear.  Of  the  seventy  thousand  Chris 
tians  who  dwelt  in  Eome,  the  same  seventy  thousand,  less 
by  scarce  a  seventieth  part,  are  now  here  within  their 
dwellings,  waiting  the  will  of  Aurelian.  Take  this  on  the 
word  of  one  whom,  in  former  days  at  least,  you  have  found 
worthy  of  your  trust.  Take  it  on  the  word  of  the  vener 
able  head  of  this  community,  who  stands  here  to  confirm 
it  either  by  word  or  oath ;  and  in  Kome  it  needs  but  to 
know  that  Felix  the  Christian  has  spoken,  to  know  that 
truth  has  spoken  too.  * 

"  The  noble  Piso, "  added  Felix,  "  has  spoken  what  all 
who  know  aught  of  the  affairs  and  condition  of  the  Chris 
tians  know  to  be  true.  There  is  among  us,  great  emperor, 
too  much,  rather  than  too  little,  of  that  courage  that  meets 
suffering  and  death  without  shrinking.  Let  your  procla 
mations  this  moment  be  sounded  abroad,  calling  upon  the 
Christians  to  appear  for  judgment  upon  their  faith  before 
the  tribunals  of  Eome,  and  they  will  come  flocking  up  as 
do  your  pagan  multitudes  to  the  games  of  the  Flavian.  " 

While  we  had  been  speaking  Fronto  sat,  inattentive,  as 
it  seemed,  to  what  was  going  on.  But  at  these  last  words 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  321 

be  was  compelled  to  give  ear,  and  did  it  as' a  man  does  who 
has  heard  unwelcome  truths.  As  Felix  ended,  the  emperor 
turned  toward  him  without  speaking,  and  without  any  look 
of  doubt  or  passion,  waiting  for  such  explanation  as  he 
might  have  to  give. 

Fronto  rose  from  his  seat  with  the  air  of  a  man  who 
doubts  not  the  soundness  of  his  cause,  and  who  feels  sure 
of  the  ear  of  his  judge. 

"  I  will  say  not,  great  emperor,  that  I  have  not  in  my 
ardour  made  broader  the  statements  which  I  have  received 
from  others.  It  is  an  error  quite  possible  for  me  to  have 
been  guilty  of.  My  zeal  for  the  gods  is  warm,  and  ofttimes 
outruns  the  calm  dictates  of  reason.  But  if  what  has  now 
been  affirmed  as  true  be  true,  it  is  more,  I  believe,  than 
they  who  so  report  can  make  good,  or  than  others  can,  be 
they  friends  or  enemies  of  this  tribe.  Who  shall  now  go 
out  into  this  wilderness  of  streets,  into  the  midst  of  this 
countless  multitude  of  citizens  and  strangers,  men  of  all 
religions  and  all  manners,  and  pick  me  out  the  seventy 
thousand  Christians,  and  show  that  all  are  snug  at  home  ? 
Out  of  the  seventy  thousand,  is  it  not  palpable  that  its 
third  or  half  may  have  fled,  and  yet  it  shall  be  in  no  man's 
power  to  make  it  so  appear,  —  to  point  to  the  spot  whence 
they  have  departed,  or  to  that  whither  they  have  gone  ? 
But  besides  this,  I  must  here  and  now  confess  that  it  was 
upon  no  knowledge  of  my  own,  gathered  by  my  own  eyes 
and  ears,  that  I  based  the  truth  now  charged  as  error ;  but 
upon  what  came  to  me  through  those  in  whose  word  I  have 
ever  placed  the  most  sacred  trust,  the  priests  of  the  temple, 
and  more  than  than  all  my  faithful  servant,  — friend,  I  may 
call  him,  —  Curio,  into  whom  drops  by  some  miracle  all 
that  is  strange  or  new  in  Rome. " 

I  said  in  reply  that  it  were  not  so  difficult,  perhaps,  as 
the  priest  has  made  it  seem,  to  learn  what  part  of  the 
Christians  were  now  in  Rome,  and  what  part  were  gone. 
"  There  are  among  us,  Aurelian,  in  every  separate  church, 
men  who  discharge  duties  corresponding  to  those  which 
Fronto  performs  in  the  Temple  of  the  Sun.  We  have  our 

21 


322  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

priests,  and  others  subordinate  to  them,  who  fill  offices  of 
dignity  and  trust.  Besides  these,  there  are  others  still, 
who  for  their  wealth  or  their  worth  are  known  well,  not 
among  the  Christians  only,  but  the  Komans  also.  Of  these 
it  were  an  easy  matter  to  learn  whether  or  not  they  are 
now  in  Eome.  And  if  these  are  here,  who  from  the  posts 
they  fill  would  be  the  first  victims,  it  may  be  fairly  sup 
posed  that  the  humbler  sort,  and  less  able  to  depart,  and 
therefore  safer,  are  also  here.  Here  I  stand,  and  here 
stands  Felix ;  we  are  not  among  the  missing ;  and  we  boast 
not  of  a  courage  greater  than  may  be  claimed  for  the 
greater  part  of  those  to  whom  we  belong. " 

"  Great  emperor, "  said  Fronto,  "  I  will  say  no  more  than 
this,  that  this  in  its  whole  aspect  bears  the  same  front  as 
the  black  aspersions  of  the  wretch  Macer,  whose  lies, 
grosser  than  Cretan  ever  forged,  poured  in  a  foul  and  rotten 
current  from  his  swollen  lips ;  yea,  while  the  hot  irons 
were  tearing  out  his  very  heart-strings  did  he  still  belch 
forth  fresh  torrents,  blacker  and  fouler  as  they  flowed 
longer,  till  death  came  and  took  him  to  other  tortures, 
worse  a  thousand-fold,  —  the  just  doom  of  such  as  put  false 
for  true.  That  those  were  the  malignant  lies  I  have  said 
they  are,  Aurelian  can  need  no  other  proof,  I  hope,  than 
that  which  has  been  already  given. " 

"  I  am  still,  Fronto,  as  when  your  witnesses  were  here  be 
fore  me,  satisfied  with  your  defence.  When,  indeed,  I  doubt 
the  truth  of  Aurelian,  I  may  be  found  to  question  that  of 
Fronto.  Piso,  hold!  We  have  heard  and  said  too  much 
already.  Take  me  not  as  if  I  doubted,  more  than  Fronto, 
the  word  which  you  have  uttered,  or  that  of  the  venerable 
Felix.  You  have  said  that  which  you  truly  believe.  The 
honour  of  a  Piso  has  never  been  impeached,  nor,  as  I  trust, 
can  be.  Yet  has  there  been  error  both  here  and  there,  and 
I  doubt  not  is.  Let  it  be  thus  determined,  then.  If  upon 
any  blame  shall  seem  to  rest,  let  it  be  me.  If  any  shall 
be  charged  with  doing  to-day  what  must  be  undone  to 
morrow,  let  the  burden  be  upon  my  shoulders.  I  will 
therefore  recede ;  the  edicts,  which  as  you  have  truly 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  323 

heard  were  to-day  to  have  been  promulged,  shall  sleep  at 
least  another  day.  To-morrow,  Piso,  at  the  sixth  hour,  in 
the  palace  on  the  Palatine,  shall  Probus,  if  such  be  the 
pleasure  of  the  Christians,  plead  in  their  behalf.  Then 
and  there  will  I  hear  what  this  faith  is,  from  him,  or  from 
whomsoever  they  shall  appoint.  And  now  no  more.  " 

With  these  words  on  the  part  of  Aurelian  our  audience 
closed,  and  we  turned  away,  grieving  to  see  that  a  man 
like  him,  of  his  Herculean  strength  otherwise,  should  have 
so  surrendered  himself  into  the  keeping  of  another ;  yet  re 
joicing  that  some  of  that  spirit  of  justice  that  once  wholly 
swayed  him  still  remained,  and  that  our  appeal  to  it  had 
not  been  in  vain. 

To-morrow,  then,  at  the  sixth  hour,  will  Probus  appear 
before  Aurelian.  It  is  not,  Fausta,  because  I  or  any  sup 
pose  that  Aurelian  himself  can  be  so.  wrought  upon  as  to 
change  any  of  his  purposes,  that  we  desire  this  hearing. 
He  is  too  far  entered  into  this  business,  too  heartily,  and 
I  may  add  too  conscientiously,  to  be  drawn  away  from 
it,  or  diverted  from  the  great  object  which  he  has  set  up 
before  him.  I  will  not  despair,  however,  that  even  he 
may  be  softened,  and  abate  somewhat  of  that  raging  thirst 
for  our  blood,  for  the  blood  of  us  all,  that  now  seems  to 
madden  him.  But  however  this  may  be,  upon  other  minds 
impressions  may  be  made  that  may  be  of  service  to  us 
either  directly  or  indirectly.  We  may  suppose  that  the 
hearing  of  the  Christians  will  be  public,  that  many  of  great 
weight  with  Aurelian  will  be  there  who  never  before 
heard  a  word  from  a  Christian's  lips,  and  who  know  only 
that  we  are  held  as  enemies  of  the  state  and  its  religion. 
Especially,  I  doubt  not,  will  many,  most,  or  all,  of  the 
senate  be  there ;  and  it  is  to  that  body  I  still  look,  as  in 
the  last  resort  able,  perhaps,  to  exert  a  power  that  may 
save  us  at  least  from  absolute  annihilation. 

To-day  has  Probus  been  heard ;  and  while  others  sleep 
I  resume  my  pen  to  describe  to  you  the  events  of  it  as  they 
have  occurred. 


324  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

It  was  in  the  banqueting-hall  of  the  imperial  palace  on 
the  Palatine  that  Probus  was  directed  to  appear  and  defend 
his  cause  before  the  emperor.  It  is  a  room  of  great  size, 
and  beautiful  in  its  proportions  and  decorations.  A  row  of 
marble  pillars  adorns  each  longer  side  of  the  apartment. 
Its  lofty  ceiling  presents  allegorically  to  the  eye,  and  in 
colours  that  can  never  fade,  Eome  victorious  over  the 
world.  The  great  and  good  of  Eome's  earlier  days  stand 
around,  in  marble  or  brass,  upon  pedestals,  or  in  niches 
sunk  into  the  substance  of  the  walls.  And  where  the  walls 
are  not  thus  broken,  pictures  wrought  upon  them  set  before 
the  beholder  many  of  the  scenes  in  which  the  patriots  of 
former  days  conquered  or  suffered  for  the  cause  of  their 
country.  Into  this  apartment,  soon  as  it  was  thrown  open, 
poured  a  crowd  both  of  Christians  and  pagans,  of  Eomans 
and  of  strangers  from  every  quarter  of  the  world.  There 
was  scarcely  a  remote  province  of  the  empire  that  had  not 
there  its  representative ;  and  from  the  far  East,  discernible 
at  once  by  their  costume,  were  many  present,  who  seemed 
interested  not  less  than  others  in  the  great  questions  to  be 
agitated.  Between  the  two  central  columns  upon  the 
western  side,  just  beneath  the  pedestal  of  a  colossal  statue 
of  Vespasian,  the  great  military  idol  of  Aurelian,  upon  a 
seat  slightly  raised  above  the  floor,  having  on  his  right 
hand  Livia  and  Julia,  sat  the  emperor.  He  was  sur 
rounded  by  his  favourite  generals  and  the  chief  members 
of  the  senate,  seated,  or  else  standing  against  the  columns 
or  statues  which  were  near  him.  There,  too,  at  the  side 
of,  or  immediately  before  Aurelian,  but  placed  lower,  were 
Porphyrus,  Varus,  Fronto,  and  half  the  priesthood  of 
Eome.  A  little  way  in  front  of  the  emperor,  and  nearly 
in  the  centre  of  the  room,  stood  Probus. 

If  Aurelian  sat  in  his  chair  of  gold,  looking  the  omnipo 
tent  master  of  all  the  world,  as  if  no  mere  mortal  force  could 
drive  him  from  the  place  he  held  and  filled,  Probus  on  his 
part,  though  he  wanted  all  that  air  of  pride  and  self-con 
fidence  written  upon  every  line  of  Aurelian 's  face  and  form, 
yet  seemed  like  one  who,  in  the  very  calmness  of  an  un- 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  325 

faltering  trust  in  a  goodness  and  power  above  that  of  earth, 
was  in  perfect  possession  of  himself,  and  fearless  of  all 
that  man  might  say  or  do.  His  face  was  pale,  but  his  eye 
was  clear.  His  air  was  that  of  a  man  mild  and  gentle, 
who  would  not  injure  willingly  the  meanest  thing  endowed 
with  life ;  but  of  a  man,  too,  of  that  energy  and  inward 
strength  of  purpose  that  he  would  not,  on  the  other  hand, 
suffer  an  injury  to  be  done  to  another,  if  any  power  lodged 
within  him  could  prevent  it.  It  was  that  of  a  man  to  be 
loved,  and  yet  to  be  feared ;  whose  compassion  you  might 
rely  upon,  but  whose  indignation  at  wrong  and  injustice 
might  also  be  relied  upon  whenever  the  weak  or  the  op 
pressed  should  cry  out  for  help  against  the  strong  and  the 
cruel. 

No  sooner  had  Aurelian  seated  himself,  and  the  thronged 
apartment  become  still,  than  he  turned  to  those  who  were 
present,  and  said  that  the  Christians  had  desired  this 
audience  before  him  and  the  sacred  senate,  and  he  had 
therefore  granted  them  their  request.  And  he  was  now 
here  to  listen  to  whatever  they  might  urge  in  their  be 
half.  "  But, "  said  he,  "  I  tell  them  now,  as  I  have  told 
them  before,  that  it  can  be  of  no  avail.  The  acts  of 
former  emperors,  from  Nero  to  the  present  hour,  have 
sufficiently  declared  what  the  light  is  in  which  a  true 
Eoman  should  view  the  superstition  that  would  supplant 
the  ancient  worship  of  the  gods.  It  is  enough  for  me 
that  such  is  the  acknowledged  aim  and  asserted  tendency 
and  operation  of  this  Jewish  doctrine.  No  merits  of  any 
kind  can  atone  for  the  least  injury  it  might  inflict  upon 
that  venerable  order  of  religious  worship  which,  from 
the  time  of  Eomulus,  has  exercised  over  us  its  benignant 
influences,  and  doubtless  by  the  blessings  it  has  drawn 
down  upon  us  from  the  gods,  crowned  our  arms  with  a 
glory  the  world  has  never  known  before,  —  putting  under 
our  feet  every  civilized  kingdom,  from  the  remotest  East 
to  the  farthest  West,  and  striking  terror  into  the  rude  bar 
barians  of  the  German  forests.  Nevertheless,  they  shall 
be  heard ;  and  if  it  is  from  thee,  Christian,  that  we  are  to 


326  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

know  what  thy  faith  is,  let  us  now  hear  whatever  it  is  in 
thy  heart  to  say.  There  shall  no  bridle  be  put  upon  thee ; 
but  thou  hast  freest  leave  to  utter  what  thou  wilt.  There 
is  nothing  of  worst  concerning  either  Kome  or  her  worship, 
her  rulers  or  her  altars,  her  priesthood  or  her  gods,  but 
thou  mayest  pour  it  forth  in  such  measure  as  shall  please 
thee,  and  no  one  shall  say  thee  nay.  Now  say  on;  the 
day  and  the  night  are  before  thee. " 

"  I  shall  require,  great  emperor, "  replied  Probus,  "  but 
little  of  either ;  yet  I  thank  thee,  and  all  of  our  name  who 
are  here  present  thank  thee,  for  the  free  range  which  thou 
hast  offered.  I  thank  thee,  too,  and  so  do  we  all,  for  the 
liberty  of  frank  and  undisturbed  speech  which  thou  hast 
assured  to  me.  Yet  shall  I  not  use  it  to  malign  either  the 
Eomans  or  their  faith.  It  is  not  with  anger  and  fierce  de 
nunciation,  0  emperor,  that  it  becomes  the  advocate  of 
what  he  believes  to  be  a  religion  from  Heaven,  to  assail 
the  adherents  of  a  religion  like  this  of  Rome,  descended  to 
the  present  generation  through  so  many  ages,  and  which 
all  who  have  believed  it  in  times  past,  and  all  who  believe 
it  now,  do  hold  to  be  true  and  woven  into  the  very  life  of 
the  state, —  the  origin  of  its  present  greatness,  and  without 
which  it  must  fall  asunder  into  final  ruin,  the  bond  that 
held  it  together  being  gone.  If  the  religion  of  Eome  be 
false,  or  really  injurious,  it  is  not  the  generations  now 
living  who  are  answerable  for  its  existence  formerly  or 
now,  nor  for  the  principles,  truths,  or  rites,  which  consti 
tute  it.  They  have  received  it,  as  they  have  received  a 
thousand  customs  which  are  now  among  them,  by  inheri 
tance  from  the  ancestors  who  bequeathed  them,  and  which 
they  received  at  too  early  an  age  to  judge  concerning  their 
fitness  or  unfitness,  but  to  which,  for  the  reason  of  that 
early  reception,  they  have  become  fondly  attached,  even 
as  to  parents,  brothers,  and  sisters,  from  whom  they  have 
never  been  divided.  It  becomes  not  the  Christian,  there 
fore,  to  load  with  reproaches  those  who  are  placed  where 
they  are,  not  by  their  own  will,  but  by  the  providence  of 
the  Great  Ruler.  Neither  does  it  become  you  of  the  Ro- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  327 

man  faith  to  reproach  us  for  the  faith  to  which  we  adhere ; 
because  the  greater  proportion  of  us  also  have  inherited 
our  religion,  as  you  yours,  from  parents  and  a  community 
who  professed  it  before  us,  and  all  regard  it  as  heaven- 
descended,  and  so  proved  to  be  divine  that  without  in 
expiable  guilt  we  may  not  refuse  to  accept  it.  It  must 
be  in  the  face  of  reason,  then,  and  justice,  in  the  face  of 
what  is  both  wise  and  merciful,  if  either  should  judge 
harshly  of  the  other. 

"  Besides,  what  do  I  behold  in  this  wide  devotion  of  the 
Roman  people  to  the  religion  of  their  ancestors  but  a  tes 
timony  beautiful  for  the  witness  it  bears  to  the  universality 
of  that  principle  or  feeling  which  binds  the  human  heart  to 
some  god  or  gods,  in  love  and  worship  ?  The  worship  may 
be  wrong  or  greatly  imperfect,  and  sometimes  injurious ; 
the  god  or  gods  may  be  so  conceived  of  as  to  act  with  hurt 
ful  influences  upon  human  character  and  life ;  still  it  is 
religion ;  it  is  a  sentiment  that  raises  the  thoughts  of  the 
humble  and  toilworn  from  the  gross,  the  dull,  the  material, 
and  the  perishing,  to  the  heavenly,  the  invisible,  the  fu 
ture,  the  immortal.  And  this,  though  accompanied  by 
some  or  many  rites  shocking  to  humanity  and  revolting  to 
reason,  is  better  than  that  men  were  in  this  regard  no 
higher  or  other  than  brutes,  but  received  their  being  as 
they  do  theirs,  they  know  not  whence,  and  when  they  lose 
it,  depart  like  them,  they  know  not  and  care  not  whither. 
In  the  religious  character  of  the  Eoman  people  —  for  reli 
gious  in  the  earlier  ages  of  this  empire  they  eminently  were, 
and  they  are  religious  now,  though  in  less  degree  —  I  be 
hold  and  acknowledge  the  providence  of  God,  who  has  so 
framed  us  that  our  minds  tend  by  resistless  force  to  himself ; 
satisfied  at  first  with  low  and  crude  conceptions,  but  ever 
aspiring  after  those  that  shall  be  worthier  and  worthier. 

"  And  now,  O  emperor,  for  the  same  reason  that  we  be 
lieve  God  the  Creator  did  implant  in  us  all,  of  all  tribes 
and  tongues,  this  deep  desire  to  know,  worship,  and  enjoy 
him,  so  that  no  people  have  ever  been  wholly  ignorant  of 
him,  do  we  believe  that  he  has,  in  these  latter  years,  de- 


328  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

clared  himself  to  mankind  more  plainly  than  he  did  in  the 
origin  of  things,  or  than  he  does  through  our  own  reason, 
so  that  men  may,  by  such  better  knowledge  of  himself,  and 
of  all  necessary  truth  which  he  has  imparted,  be  raised  to 
a  higher  virtue  on  earth,  and  made  fit  for  a  more  exalted 
life  in  heaven.  We  believe  that  he  has  thus  declared  himself 
by  him  whom  you  have  heard  named  as  the  Master  and 
Lord  of  the  Christians,  and  after  whom  they  are  called,  — 
Jesus  Christ.  Him,  God  the  Creator,  we  believe,  sent  into 
the  world  to  teach  a  better  religion  than  the  world  had, 
and  to  break  down  and  forever  destroy,  through  the  opera 
tion  of  his  truth,  a  thousand  injurious  forms  of  false  re 
ligion.  It  is  this  religion  which  we  would  extend  and 
impart  to  those  who  will  open  their  minds  to  consider  its 
claims,  and  their  hearts  to  embrace  its  truths,  when  they 
have  once  been  seen  to  be  divine.  This  has  been  our  task 
and  our  duty  in  Eome,  to  beseech  you,  not  blindly  to  re 
ceive,  but  strictly  to  examine,  and  if  found  to  be  true,  then 
humbly  and  gratefully  to  adopt,  this  new  message  from 
above  —  " 

"  By  the  gods,  Aurelian, "  exclaimed  Porphyrus,  <f  these 
Christians  are  kindly  disposed !  Their  benevolence  and 
their  philosophy  are  alike.  We  are  obliged  to  them  —  " 

"  Not  now,  Porphyrus, "  said  Aurelian.  "  Disturb  not 
the  Christian.  Say  on,  Probus. " 

"  We  hope, "  continued  Probus,  nothing  daunted  by  the 
scornful  jeers  of  the  philosopher,  "  that  we  are  sincerely  de 
sirous  of  your  welfare,  and  so  pray  that  in  the  lapse  of 
years  all  may,  as  some  have  done,  take  at  our  hands  the 
good  we  proffer  them ;  for  sure  we  are  that  would  all  so 
receive  it,  Eome  would  tower  upwards  with  a  glory  and 
a  beauty  that  should  make  her  a  thousand-fold  more  hon 
oured  and  beloved  than  now,  and  her  roots  would  strike 
down,  and  so  fasten  themselves  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
earth  that  well  might  she  then  be  called  the  Eternal  City. 
Yet,  0  emperor,  though  such  is  our  aim  and  purpose,  — 
though  we  would  propagate  a  religion  from  God,  and  in 
doing  so  are  willing  to  labour  our  lives  long,  and,  if  need 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  329 

be,  die  in  the  sacred  cause, —  yet  are  we  charged  as  atheists. 
The  name  by  which  we  are  known,  as  much  as  by  that  of 
Christian,  is  atheist  —  * 

"  Such  I  have  surely  believed  you, "  said  Porphyrus, 
again  breaking  in,  "  and  at  this  moment  do.  " 

"  But  it  is  a  name,  Aurelian,  fixed  upon  us  ignorantly  or 
slanderously,  —  ignorantly,  I  am  willing  to  believe.  We 
believe  in  a  God,  0  emperor ;  it  is  to  him  we  live  and  to 
him  we  die.  The  charge  of  atheism  I  thus  publicly  deny, 
as  do  all  Christians  who  are  here,  as  would  all  throughout 
the  world  with  one  acclaim,  were  they  also  here,  and 
would  all  seal  their  testimony,  if  need  were,  with  their 
blood.  We  believe  in  one  God ;  not  in  many,  some  greater 
and  some  lesser,  as  with  you,  and  whose  forms  are  known 
and  can  be  set  forth  in  images  and  statues,  but  in  one  spir 
itual  and  invisible  Being,  the  sole  monarch  of  the  universe, 
whom  no  eye  hath  seen  or  can  see ;  whom  no  man,  be  he 
ever  so  cunning,  can  represent  in  wood,  or  brass,  or  stone ; 
whom  so  to  represent  in  any  imaginary  shape,  our  faith  de 
nounces  as  unlawful  and  impious.  Hence  it  is,  0  emperor, 
because  the  vulgar,  when  they  enter  our  churches  or  our 
houses,  see  there  no  image  of  god  or  goddess,  that  they 
imagine  we  are  without  a  God,  and  without  his  worship. 
And  such  conclusion  may  in  them  be  excused.  For  till 
they  are  instructed,  it  may  not  be  easy  for  them  to  con 
ceive  of  one  infinite  and  spiritual  God,  filling  heaven  and 
earth  with  his  presence.  But  in  others,  it  is  hard  to  see 
how  they  think  us  atheists  on  the  same  ground,  since 
nothing  can  be  plainer  than  that  among  you,  the  intelli 
gent,  and  the  philosophers  especially,  believe  as  we  do,  in 
a  great,  pervading,  invisible  spirit  of  the  universe.  Plato 
worshipped  not,  nor  believed  in,  these  stone  or  wooden 
gods ;  nor  in  any  of  the  fables  of  the  Greek  religion ;  yet 
who  ever  has  charged  him  with  atheism  ?  So  was  it  with 
the  great  Longinus.  I  see  before  me  those  who  are  now 
famed  for  their  science  in  such  things,  and  who  are  the 
teachers  of  Eome  in  them ;  yet  not  one,  I  may  venture  to 
declare,  believes  other  than  as  Plato  and  Longinus  did  in 


330  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

this  regard.  It  is  an  error  or  a  calumny  that  has  ever  pre 
vailed  concerning  us;  but  in  former  times  some  have  had 
the  candour,  when  the  error  has  been  removed,  to  confess 
publicly  that  they  had  been  subject  to  it.  The  emperor 
Marcus  Aurelius,  to  name  no  other,  when,  in  the  straits 
into  which  he  was  fallen  at  Cotinus,  he  charged  his  dis 
asters  upon  the  Christian  soldiers,  and  they  praying  pros 
trate  upon  the  earth  for  him  and  his  army  and  empire,  he 
forthwith  gained  the  victory,  which  before  he  had  despaired 
of,  —  did  then  immediately  acknowledge  that  they  had  a 
God,  and  that  they  should  no  longer  be  reviled  as  atheists 
since  it  was  plain  that  men  might  believe  in  a  God  and 
carry  about  the  image  of  him  in  their  own  minds  though 
they  had  no  visible  one.  It  is  thus  we  are  all  theists. 
We  carry  about  with  us,  in  the  sanctuary  of  our  own 
bosoms,  our  image  of  the  great  and  almighty  God  whom 
we  serve ;  and  before  that,  and  that  only,  do  we  bow  down 
and  worship.  Were  we  indeed  atheists,  it  were  not  un 
reasonable  that  you  dealt  with  us  as  you  now  do,  —  nay, 
and  much  more  severely ;  for  where  belief  in  a  God  does 
not  exist,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  any  state  can  long  hold 
together.  The  necessary  bond  is  wanting,  and  as  a  sheaf  of 
wheat  when  the  band  is  broken,  it  must  fall  asunder. 

"  The  first  principle  of  the  religion  of  Christ  is  this  be 
lief  in  a  God,  in  his  righteous  providence  here  on  earth, 
and  in  a  righteous  retribution  hereafter.  How,  then,  can 
the  religion  of  Christ,  in  this  respect,  be  of  dangerous  in 
fluence  or  tendency  ?  It  is  well  known  to  all  who  are  ac 
quainted  in  the  least  with  history  or  philosophy,  that  in 
the  religion  of  the  Jews,  the  belief  and  worship  of  one  God 
almost  constitutes  the  religion  itself.  Everything  else  is 
inferior  and  subordinate.  In  this  respect  the  religion  of 
Jesus  is  like  that  of  the  Jews.  It  is  exceeding  jealous  of 
the  honour  and  worship  of  this  one  God,  —  the  God  of  the 
Jews  also ;  for  Jesus  was  himself  a  Jew,  and  has  revealed 
to  us  the  same  God  whom  we  are  required  to  worship,  only 
with  none  of  the  ceremonies,  rites,  and  sacrifices,  which 
were  peculiar  to  the  Jews.  It  is  this  which  has  caused 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  331 

us,  equally  to  our  and  their  displeasure,  frequently  to  be 
confounded  together,  and  mistaken  the  one  for  the  other. 
But  the  differences  between  us  are,  excepting  in  the  great 
doctrine  I  have  just  named,  essential  and  eternal.  This 
doctrine,  therefore,  which  is  the  chief  of  all,  being  so  fun 
damental  with  us,  it  is  not  easy,  I  say,  to  see  how  we  can, 
on  religious  accounts,  be  dangerous  to  the  state.  For 
many  things  are  comprehended  in  and  follow  from  this 
faith.  It  is  not  a  barren,  unprofitable  speculation,  but  a 
practical  and  restraining  doctrine  of  the  greatest  moral 
efficacy.  If  it  be  not  this  to  us,  to  all  and  every  one  of  us, 
it  is  not  what  it  ought  to  be,  and  we  wrongly  understand, 
or  else  wilfully  pervert  it.  We  believe  that  we  are  every 
where  surrounded  by  the  presence  of  our  God ;  that  he  is 
our  witness  every  moment,  and  everywhere  conscious,  as  we 
are  ourselves,  of  our  words,  acts,  and  thoughts,  and  will 
bring  us  all  to  a  strict  account  at  last  for  whatever  he  has 
thus  witnessed  that  has  been  contrary  to  that  rigid  law  of 
holy  living  which  he  has  established  over  us  in  Christ. 
Must  not  this  act  upon  us  most  beneficially  ?  We  believe 
that  in  himself  he  is  perfect  purity,  and  that  he  demands 
of  us  that  we  be  so  in  our  degree  also.  We  can  impute  to 
him  none  of  the  acts,  such  as  the  believers  in  the  Greek 
and  Eoman  religions  freely  ascribe  to  their  Jove,  and  so 
have  not,  as  others  have,  in  such  divine  example,  a  war 
rant  and  excuse  for  the  like  enormities.  This  one  God, 
too,  we  also  regard  as  our  Judge,  who  will  in  the  end  sit 
upon  our  conduct  throughout  the  whole  of  our  lives,  and 
punish  or  reward  according  to  what  we  shall  have  been, 
just  as  the  souls  of  men,  according  to  your  belief,  receive 
their  sentence  at  the  bar  of  Minos  and  Ehadamanthus. 
And  other  similar  truths  are  wrapt  up  with,  and  make  a 
part  of  this  great  primary  one.  Wherefore  it  is  most  evi 
dent,  tha.t  nothing  can  be  more  false  and  absurd  than  to 
think  and  speak  of  us  as  atheists,  and  for  that  reason  a 
nuisance  in  the  state. 

"  But  it  is  not  only  that  we  are  atheists,  but  that  through 
our  atheism  we  are  to  be  looked  upon  as  disorderly  mem- 


332  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

bers  of  society,  disturbers  of  the  peace,  disaffected  and  re 
bellious  citizens,  that  we  hear  on  every  side.  I  do  not 
believe  that  this  charge  has  ever  been  true  of  any,  much 
less  of  all.  Or,  if  any  Christian  has  at  any  time,  and  for 
any  reason,  disobeyed  the  laws,  withheld  his  taxes  when 
they  have  been  demanded,  or  neglected  any  duties  which, 
as  a  citizen  of  Eome,  he  has  owed  to  the  emperor  or  any 
representative  of  him,  then  so  far  he  has  not  been  a  Chris 
tian.  Christ's  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world, —  though,  be 
cause  we  so  often  and  so  much  speak  of  a  kingdom,  we 
have  been  thought  to  aim  at  one  on  earth,  —  it  is  above ; 
and  he  requires  us,  while  here  below,  to  be  obedient  to  the 
laws  and  the  rulers  that  are  set  up  over  us ;  to  pay  tribute 
to  whomsoever  it  is  due,  —  here  in  Eome  to  Caesar ;  and 
wherever  we  are,  to  be  loyal  and  quiet  citizens  of  the  state. 
And  the  reception  of  his  religion  tends  to  make  such  of 
us  all.  Whoever  adopts  the  faith  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
will  be  a  virtuous,  and  holy,  and  devout  man,  and  therefore 
both  in  Eome,  in  Persia,  and  India,  and  everywhere,  a  good 
subject. 

"  We  defend  not  nor  abet,  great  emperor,  the  act  of  that 
holy  but  impetuous  and  passionate  man,  who  so  lately,  in 
defiance  of  the  imperial  edict,  and  before  either  remon 
strance  or  appeal  on  our  part,  preached  on  the  very  steps 
of  the  Capitol,  and  there  committed  that  violence  for  which 
he  hath  already  answered  with  his  life.  We  defend  him 
not  in  that,  but  neither  do  we  defend  the  unrighteous 
haste,  and  the  more  than  demoniac  barbarity  of  his  death. 
God,  we  rejoice  in  all  our  afflictions,  is  over  all ;  and  the 
wicked,  the  cruel,  and  the  unjust,  shall  not  escape. 

"  Yet  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  there  are  higher 
duties  than  those  which  we  owe  to  the  state,  even  as  there 
is  a  higher  sovereign  to  whom  we  owe  allegiance  than  the 
head  of  the  state,  whether  that  head  be  king,  senate,  or 
emperor.  Man  is  not  only  a  subject  and  a  citizen,  he  is 
first  of  all  the  creature  of  God,  and  amenable  to  his  laws. 
When,  therefore,  there  is  a  conflict  between  the  laws  of 
God  and  the  king,  who  can  doubt  which  are  to  be  obeyed  ? " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  333 

"  Who  does  not  see, "  cried  Porphyrus,  vehemently, 
"  that  in  such  principles  there  lurks  the  blackest  treason  ? 
For  who  but  themselves  are  to  judge  when  the  laws  of 
the  two  sovereigns  do  thus  conflict  ?  and  what  law  then  may 
be  promulged  but  to  them  it  may  be  an  offence  ?  " 

"  Let  not  the  learned  Porphyrus, "  resumed  Probus,  "  rest 
in  but  a  part  of  what  I  say.  Let  him  hear  the  whole,  and 
then  deny  the  principle  if  he  can.  I  say,  when  the  law  of 
God  and  the  law  of  man  are  opposite  the  one  to  the  other, 
we  are  not  to  hesitate  which  to  obey  and  which  to  break ; 
our  first  allegiance  is  due  to  Heaven.  And  it  is  true  that 
we  ourselves  are  to  be  the  judges  in  the  case.  But  then, 
we  are  judges  under  the  same  stern  laws  of  conscience 
toward  God  which  compel  us  to  violate  the  law  of  the  em 
pire,  though  death  in  its  most  terrific  form  be  the  penalty. 
And  is  it  likely,  therefore,  that  we  shall,  for  frivolous 
causes,  or  imaginary  ones,  or  none  at  all,  hold  it  to  be  our 
duty  to  rebel  against  the  law  of  the  land  ?  To  think  so 
were  to  rate  us  low  indeed.  They  may  surely  be  trusted  to 
make  this  decision  whose  fidelity  to  conscience  in  other 
emergencies  brings  down  upon  them  so  heavy  a  load  of  ca 
lamity.  I  may  appeal,  moreover,  to  all,  I  think,  who  hear 
me,  of  the  common  faith,  whether  they  themselves  would 
not  hold  by  the  same  principle.  Suppose  the  case,  that 
your  supreme  god,  Jupiter  greatest  and  best,  or  the  god 
beyond  and  above  him  in  whom  your  philosophers  have 
faith,  revealed  a  law,  requiring  what  the  law  of  the  empire 
forbids  ;  must  you  not,  would  you  not,  if  your  religion  were 
anything  more  than  a  mere  pretence,  obey  the  god  rather  than 
the  man  ?  Although,  therefore,  great  emperor,  we  blame  the 
honest  Macer  for  his  precipitancy,  yet  it  ought  to  be,  and 
is,  the  determination  of  us  all,  to  yield  obedience  to  no  law 
which  violates  the  law  of  Heaven.  We  having  received 
the  faith  of  Christ  in  trust,  to  be  by  us  dispensed  to  man 
kind,  and  believing  the  welfare  of  mankind  to  depend  upon 
the  wide  extension  of  it,  we  will  rather  die  than  shut  it  up 
in  our  own  bosoms ;  we  will  rather  die  than  live  with  our 
tongues  torn  from  our  mouths,  our  limbs  fettered  and 
bound.  We  must  speak,  or  we  will  die. " 


334  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

Porphyrus  again  sprang  from  his  seat  with  intent  to 
speak,  but  the  emperor  restrained  him. 

"Contend  not  now,  Porphyrus;  let  us  hear  the  Chris 
tian.  I  have  given  him  his  freedom.  Infringe  it  not. " 

"  I  will  willingly,  noble  emperor, "  said  Probus,  "  re 
spond  to  whatsoever  the  learned  Tyrian  may  propose.  All 
I  can  desire  is  this  only,  that  the  religion  of  Christ  may  be 
seen  by  those  who  are  here  to  be  what  it  truly  is ;  and  it 
may  be  that  the  questions  or  the  objections  of  the  philoso 
phers  shall  show  this  more  perfectly  than  a  continued 
discourse. " 

The  emperor,  however,  making  a  sign,  he  went  on. 

"  "VVe  have  also  been  charged,  0  emperor,  with  vices  and 
crimes,  committed  at  both  our  social  and  our  religious 
meetings,  at  which  nature  revolts,  which  are  even  beyond 
in  grossness  what  have  been  ever  ascribed  to  the  most  flagi 
tious  of  mankind. " 

Probus  here  enumerated  the  many  rumours  which  had 
long  been  and  still  were  current  in  Rome,  and,  especially 
by  the  lower  orders,  believed ;  and  drew  then  such  a  picture 
of  the  character,  lives,  manners,  and  morals  of  the  Chris 
tians,  for  the  truth  of  which  he  appealed  openly  to  noble 
and  distinguished  persons  among  the  Eomans  then  present, 
—  not  of  the  Christian  faith,  but  who  were  yet  well  ac 
quainted  with  their  character  and  condition,  and  who  would 
not  refuse  to  testify  to  what  he  had  said,  —  that  there  could 
none  have  been  present  in  that  vast  assembly  but  who,  if 
there  were  any  sense  of  justice  within  them,  must  have  dis 
missed  forever  from  their  minds,  if  they  had  ever  entertained 
them,  the  slanderous  fictions  that  had  filled  them. 

To  report  to  you,  Fausta,  this  part  of  his  defence  must 
be  needless,  and  could  not  prove  otherwise  than  painful. 
He  then  also  refuted  in  the  same  manner  other  common 
objections  alleged  against  the  Christians  and  their  wor 
ship,  —  the  lateness  of  its  origin  ;  its  beggarly  simplicity ; 
the  low  and  ignorant  people  who  alone,  or  chiefly,  both  in 
Rome  and  throughout  the  world,  have  received  it;  the 
fierce  divisions  and  disputes  among  the  Christians  them- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  335 

selves ;  the  uncertainty  of  its  doctrines ;  the  rigour  of  its 
morality,  as  unsuited  to  mankind,  —  as  also  its  spiritual 
worship,  the  slowness  of  its  progress,  and  the  little  like 
lihood  that,  if  God  were  its  author,  he  would  leave  it  to  be 
trodden  under  foot  and  so  nearly  annihilated  by  the  very 
people  to  whom  he  was  sending  it ;  these  and  other  similar 
things  usually  urged  against  the  Christians,  and  now,  for 
the  first  time,  it  is  probable,  by  most  of  the  Romans  pres 
ent  heard  refuted  and  explained,  did  Probus  set  forth, 
both  with  brevity  and  force,  making  nothing  tedious  by 
reason  of  a  frivolous  minuteness,  nor  yet  omitting  a  single 
topic  or  argument  which  it  was  due  to  the  cause  he  de 
fended  to  bring  before  the  minds  of  that  august  assembly. 
He  then  ended  his  appeal  in  the  following  manner :  — 

"  And  now,  great  emperor,  must  you  have  seen,  in  what 
I  have  already  said,  what  the  nature  and  character  of  this 
religion  is ;  for  in  denying  and  disproving  the  charges  that 
have  been  brought  against  it,  I  have,  in  most  particulars, 
alleged  and  explained  some  opposite  truth  or  doctrine  by 
which  it  is  justly  characterized.  But  that  you  may  be  in 
formed  the  more  exactly  for  what  it  is  you  are  about  to 
persecute  and  destroy  us,  and  for  what  it  is  that  we  cheer 
fully  undergo  torture  and  death  sooner  than  surrender  or 
deny  it,  listen  yet  a  moment  longer.  You  have  heard  that 
we  are  named  after  Jesus,  —  Jesus  of  Nazareth  in  Galilee, — 
who,  in  the  reign  of  Augustus,  was  born  in  Judea,  and 
there  lived  and  taught,  a  prophet  and  messenger  of  God, 
till  he  was  publicly  crucified  by  his  bitter  enemies  the 
Jews.  We  do  not  doubt,  nay,  we  all  steadfastly  believe, 
that  this  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  the  Most  High  God,  by  rea 
son  of  his  wonderful  endowments  and  his  delegated  office 
as  the  long  looked-for  Messiah  of  the  Jews.  As  the  evi 
dences  of  his  great  office  and  of  his  divine  origin,  he  per 
formed  those  miracles  that  filled  with  astonishment  the 
whole  Jewish  nation,  and  strangers  from  all  parts  of  the 
world ;  and  so  wrought  even  upon  the  mind  of  your  great 
predecessor,  the  emperor  Tiberius,  that  he  would  fain  re 
ceive  him  into  the  number  of  the  gods  of  Eome.  And  why, 


336  LETTERS    FROM  ROME. 

O  emperor,  was  this  great  personage  sent  forth  into  the 
world,  encircled  by  the  rays  of  divine  power  and  wisdom 
and  goodness,  an  emanation  of  the  self -existent  and  infinite 
and  invisible  God  ?  And  why  do  we  so  honour  him,  and 
cleave  to  him,  that  we  are  ready  to  offer  our  lives  in  sacri 
fice,  while  we  go  forth  as  preachers  of  his  faith,  making 
him  known  to  all  nations  as  the  universal  Saviour  and 
Eedeemer  ?  This  Jesus  came  into  the  world,  and  lived  and 
taught,  was  preceded  by  so  long  a  preparation  of  prophetic 
annunciation,  and  accompanied  by  so  sublime  demonstra 
tions  of  almighty  power,  to  this  end,  and  to  this  end  only : 
that  he  might  save  us  from  our  sins,  and  from  those  penal 
consequences,  in  this  world  and  in  worlds  to  come,  which 
are  bound  to  them  by  the  stern  decrees  of  fate.  Yes, 
Aurelian,  Jesus  came  only  that  he  might  deliver  mankind 
from  the  thraldom  of  sin,  and  raise  them  to  a  higher  con 
dition  of  virtue  and  happiness.  He  was  a  great  moral  and 
religious  reformer,  endowed  with  the  wisdom  and  power 
of  the  Supreme  God.  He  himself  toiled  only  in  Judea ; 
but  he  came  a  benefactor  of  Eome  too, —  of  Eome  as  well  as 
of  Judea.  He  came  to  purge  it  of  its  pollutions ;  to  check 
in  their  growth  those  customs  and  vices  which  seemed 
destined,  reaching  their  natural  height  and  size,  to  overlay 
and  bury  in  final  ruin  the  city  and  the  empire ;  he  came  to 
make  us  citizens  of  heaven  through  the  virtues  which  his 
doctrine  should  build  up  in  the  soul,  and  so  citizens  of 
Eome  more  worthy  of  that  name  than  any  who  ever  went 
before.  He  came  to  heal,  to  mend,  to  reform  the  state; 
not  to  set  up  a  kingdom  in  hostility  to  this,  but  in  unison 
with  it, — an  inward,  invisible  kingdom  in  every  man's 
heart,  and  which  should  be  as  the  soul  of  the  other. 

"  It  was  to  reform  the  morals  of  the  state,  to  save  it  from 
itself,  that  you,  Aurelian,  in  the  first  years  of  your  reign, 
applied  those  energies  that  have  raised  the  empire  to  more 
than  its  ancient  glory.  You  aimed  to  infuse  a  love  of 
justice  and  of  peace,  to  abate  the  extravagances  of  the 
times,  to  stem  the  tide  of  corruption  that  seemed  about  to 
bear  down  upon  its  foul  streams  the  empire  itself,  tossing 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  337 

upon  its  surface  a  wide  sea  of  ruins.      It  was  a  great  work, 

—  too  great  for  man.     It  needed  a  divine  strength  and  a 
more  than  human  wisdom.     These  were  not  yours ;  and  it 
is  no  wonder  that  the  work  did  not  go  on  to  its  completion. 
Jesus  is  a  reformer, —  of  Eome,  and  of  the  world  also.     The 
world  is  his  theatre  of   action ;   but  with  him   there    is 
leagued  the  arm  and  the  power  of  the  Supreme  God ;  and 
the  work  which  he  attempts  shall  succeed.     It  cannot  but 
succeed.     It  is  not  so  much  he,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  has 
come  forth  upon  this  great  errand  of  mercy  and  love  to 
mankind,  as  God  himself,  in  and  through  him.     It  is  the 
great  God  of  the  universe  who  by  Jesus  Christ  as  his  agent 
and  messenger  comes  to  you,  and  would  reform  and  redeem 
your  empire,  and  out  of  that  which  is  transitory,  and  by 
its  inherent  vice  threatened  with  decay  and  death,  make  a 
city  and  an  empire  which,  through  the  energy  of  its  virtues 
shall  truly  be  eternal.     Can  you  not,  0  emperor,  supposing 
the  claims  of  this  religion  to  a  divine  origin  to  be  just, 
view  it  with  respect?     Nay,  could  you  not  greet  its  ap 
proach  to  your  capital  with  pleasure  and  gratitude,  seeing 
its  aim  is  nothing  else  than  this,  to  purify,    purge,  and 
reform  the  state,  to  heal  its  wounds,  cleanse  its  putrefying 
members,  and  infuse  the  element  of  a  new  and  healthier 
life  ?     Methinks  a  true  patriot  and  lover  of  Eome  must  re 
joice  when  any  power  approaches  and  offers  to  apply  those 
remedies  that  may,  with  remotest  probability  only,  bid 
fair  to  cure  the  diseases  of  which  her  body  is  sick  nigh 
unto  death.      Such,  Aurelian,  was  and  is  the  aim  of  Jesus 
in  the  religion  which  he  brought,  —  to  reform  the  world, 
and  bring  men  everywhere  into  harmony  with  God  their 
Creator;  to  reconcile  them  to  each  other;  to  make  them 
as  one.     And  of  us  who  are  his  ministers,  his  messengers, 

—  who  go  forth  bearing  these  glad  tidings  of  deliverance 
from  sin  and  corruption,    and  of  union   with   God,  —  our 
work   is  the  same  with  his.     We  but  repeat  the  lessons 
which  he  gave.     We  take  his  gospel,  which  is  his  written 
instruction,  in  our  hand,  and  reading  as  we  go,  we  aim  to 
rescue  the  souls  of  men  from  the  power  of   demons,   of 

22 


338  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

Satan,  and  of  sin.  We  are  humble  teachers  of  good  morals. 
Our  office,  like  that  of  our  great  Master,  is  persuading  men  to 
abandon  all  that  injures  them,  and  unite  themselves  to  God 
in  virtuous  lives.  Are  we,  in  so  doing,  enemies  of  Kome  ? 
Are  we  not  rather  her  truest  friends  ?  By  making  men 
good,  pure,  just,  kind,  honest,  and  conscientious,  are  we 
not  at  the  same  time  making  them  the  best  citizens  ?  Are 
there  in  Eome  better  citizens  than  the  Christians  ? 

"  You  will  now,  perhaps,  Aurelian,  desire  to  be  told  by 
what  instruments  Christianity  hopes  to  work  such  changes 
—  by  the  use  of  what  means.  It  is  simply,  0  emperor,  by 
the  power  of  truth !  The  religion  which  we  preach  uses 
not  force.  Were  the  arm  of  Aurelian  at  this  moment  the 
arm  of  Probus,  he  could  do  no  more  than  he  now  does, 
with  one  which,  as  the  world  deems,  is  in  the  comparison 
powerless  as  an  infant's.  In  all  that  pertains  to  the  soul, 
and  its  growth  and  purification,  there  must  be  utmost  free 
dom.  The  soul  must  suffer  no  constraint.  There  must  be 
no  force  laid  upon  it,  but  the  force  of  reason  and  the  appeal 
of  divine  truth.  All  that  we  ask  or  want  in  Eome  is  the 
liberty  of  speech,  —  the  free  allowance  to  offer  to  men  the 
truth  in  Christ,  and  persuade  them  to  consider  it.  With 
that  we  will  engage  to  reform  and  save  the  whole  world. 
We  want  not  to  meddle  with  affairs  of  state,  nor  with  the 
citizen's  relations  to  the  state;  we  have  naught  to  do  with 
the  city,  or  its  laws,  or  government.  We  desire  but  the 
privilege  to  worship  God  according  to  our  consciences,  and 
labour  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare  of  all  who  will 
hear  our  words. 

"  And  if  you  would  know  what  the  truth  is  we  impart, 
and  by  which  we  would  save  the  souls  of  men,  and  reform 
the  empire  and  the  world,  be  it  known  to  you  that  we 
preach  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified,  whom  God  raised  up 
and  sent  into  the  world  to  save  it  by  his  doctrine  and  life, 
and  whom  —  being  by  the  Jews  hung  upon  a  cross  —  God 
raised  again  from  the  dead.  We  preach  him  as  the  Son  of 
God  with  power,  by  whom  God  has  been  revealed  to  man 
kind  in  his  true  nature  and  perfections,  and  through  whom, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  339 

he  and  he  only  is  to  be  worshipped.  It  is  this  Being,  the 
God  who  sent  Jesus  into  the  world,  whom  we  preach  to  you 
and  all  in  Eome  as  the  only  true  God,  for  whom  you  are 
bound,  when  the  truth  shall  have  been  made  plain  to  you, 
to  forsake  your  idols,  and  fall  down  and  serve  him  alone. 
In  the  place  of  Jupiter,  we  bring  you  a  revelation  of  the 
God  and  Father  of  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord,  —  a  Being  of  per 
fect  purity,  holiness,  and  truth,  who  is  the  Creator,  Gov 
ernor,  and  Judge  of  the  universe,  and  who  will  call  all  men 
unto  judgment  at  last  for  all  their  acts  and  thoughts,  re 
warding  or  punishing  according  to  what  they  have  done. 
Through  Jesus,  we  preach  also  a  resurrection  from  the 
dead.  We  show  by  arguments  which  cannot  be  refuted 
that  this  Jesus,  when  he  had  been  crucified  and  slain,  and 
his  body  had  lain  three  days  in  the  tomb,  rose  again,  and 
was  taken  up  to  heaven  as  an  example  of  what  should 
afterwards  happen  to  all  his  followers.  Through  him  has 
immortality  been  plainly  brought  to  light  and  proved ; 
and  this  transporting  truth  we  declare  wherever  we  go. 
Through  Jesus,  we  preach  also  repentance ;  we  declare  to 
men  their  wickedness ;  we  show  them  what  and  how  great 
it  is,  and  exhort  them  to  repentance,  as  what  can  alone 
save  them  from  the  wrath  to  come. 

"  This,  O  emperor,  is  the  great  work  which  we,  as  apos 
tles  of  Jesus,  have  to  do,  — to  convince  the  world  how  vile 
it  is,  how  surely  their  wickedness  unrepented  of  will 
work  their  misery  and  their  ruin,  and  so  lead  them  away 
from  it,  and  up  the  safe  and  pleasant  heights  of  Christian 
virtue.  We  find  Rome  sunk  in  sensuality  and  sin ;  nor 
only  that,  but  ignorant  of  its  own  guilt,  dead  to  the  wicked 
ness  into  which  it  has  fallen,  and  denying  any  obligations 
to  a  different  or  better  life.  Such  do  we  find  the  world 
itself,  —  dead,  dead  in  trespasses  and  sin.  We  would 
rouse  it  from  this  sleep  of  moral  death.  We  desire,  first 
of  all,  to  waken  in  the  souls  of  men  a  perception  of  the 
guilt  of  sin,  a  feeling  of  the  wide  departure  of  their  lives 
from  the  just  demands  of  the  Being  who  made  them.  The 
prospect  of  immortality  were  nothing  without  this.  Longer 


340  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

life  were  but  a  greater  evil  were  we  not  made  alive  to  sin 
and  righteousness.  Life  on  earth,  Aurelian,  is  not  the  best 
thing,  but  life  free  from  sin,  — virtuous  life;  so  life  with 
out  end  is  not  the  best  thing,  but  that  life  glorious  through 
holiness.  But  to  the  necessity  of  such  holiness  to  the  life 
of  the  soul,  men  are  now  insensible  and  dead.  They  love 
the  prospect  of  an  immortal  existence,  but  not  of  that 
purity  without  which  immortality  were  no  blessing.  This 
moral  regeneration,  this  waking  up  of  men  dead  in  sin  to 
the  life  of  righteousness,  this  redemption  of  them  from 
their  vices,  and  the  abominable,  cruel,  and  impious  customs 
which  prevail  and  sink  them  to  the  level  of  the  brutes,  — 
this  is  the  first  aim  of  Christianity.  Repentance  was  the 
first  word  of  its  Founder  when  he  began  preaching  in  Ju- 
dea ;  it  is  the  first  word  of  his  followers  wherever  they  go, 
and  should  be  the  last.  This,  O  Aurelian,  in  few  words,  is 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  :  '  Eepent,  and  live  forever ! ' 

"  In  the  service  of  this  gospel,  and  therefore  of  you  and 
the  world,  we  are  content  to  labour  while  we  live,  to  suffer 
injury  and  reproach,  and  if  need  be,  and  they  to  whom  we  go 
will  not  understand  us,  lay  down  our  lives.  Almost  three 
hundred  years  has  it  appealed  to  mankind ;  and  though  not 
with  the  success  that  should  have  followed  upon  the  toil  of 
those  who  have  toiled  for  the  salvation  of  men,  yet  has  it 
not  been  rejected  everywhere,  nor  has  the  labour  been  in 
vain.  The  fruit  that  has  come  of  the  seed  sown  is  great 
and  abundant.  In  every  corner  of  the  earth  are  there  now 
those  who  name  the  name  of  Christ.  And  in  every  place 
are  there  many,  more  than  meet  the  eye,  who  read  our  gos 
pels,  believe  in  them,  and  rejoice  in  the  virtue  and  the 
hope  which  have  taken  root  in  their  souls.  Here  in  Eome, 
O  Aurelian,  are  there  multitudes  of  believers,  whom  the 
ear  hears  not,  nor  the  eye  sees,  hidden  away  in  the  security 
of  this  sea  of  roofs,  and  whom  the  messengers  of  your 
power  never  could  discover.  Destroy  us  you  may ;  sweep 
from  the  face  of  Eome  every  individual  whom  the  most 
diligent  search  can  find,  from  the  gray-haired  man  of  four 
score  to  the  infant  that  can  just  lisp  the  name  of  Jesus, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  341 

and  you  have  not  destroyed  the  Christians.  The  Christian 
Church  still  stands, —  not  unharmed,  but  founded  as  before 
upon  a  rock,  against  which  the  powers  of  earth  and  hell 
can  never  prevail ;  and  soon  as  this  storm  shall  have  over 
blown,  those  other  and  now  secret  multitudes  of  whom  I 
speak  will  come  forth,  and  the  wilderness  of  the  Church 
shall  blossom  again  as  a  garden  in  the  time  of  spring.  God 
is  working  with  us,  and  who,  therefore,  can  prevail  against 
us? 

"  Bring  not,  then,  Aurelian,  upon  your  own  soul,  bring 
not  upon  Eome,  the  guilt  that  would  attend  this  unnecessary 
slaughter.  It  can  but  defer  for  an  hour  or  a  day  the  estab 
lishment  of  that  kingdom  of  righteousness,  which  must  be 
established,  because  it  is  God's,  and  he  is  laying  its  foun 
dations  and  building  its  walls.  Have  pity,  too,  great  em 
peror,  upon  this  large  multitude  of  those  who  embrace  this 
faith,  and  who  will  not  let  it  go  for  all  the  terrors  of  your 
courts,  and  judges,  and  engines;  they  will  all  suffer  the 
death  of  Macer  ere  they  will  prove  false  to  their  Master. 
Let  not  the  horrors  of  that  scene  be  renewed,  nor  the 
greater  ones  of  an  indiscriminate  massacre.  I  implore 
your  compassion,  not  for  myself,  but  for  these  many  thou 
sands  who  by  my  ministry  have  been  persuaded  to  receive 
this  faith.  For  them  my  heart  bleeds ;  them  I  would  save 
from  the  death  which  impends.  Yet  it  is  a  glorious  and  a 
happy  death  to  die  for  truth  arid  Christ !  It  is  better  to 
die  so,  knowing  that  by  such  death  the  very  Church  itself 
is  profited,  than  to  die  in  one's  own  bed,  and  only  to  one's 
self.  So  do  these  thousands  think;  and  whatever  com 
passion  I  may  implore  for  them,  they  would  each  and  all, 
were  that  their  fate,  go  with  cheerful  step,  as  those  who 
went  to  some  marriage  supper,  to  the  axe,  the  stake,  or  the 
cross.  Christianity  cannot  die  but  with  the  race  itself. 
Its  life  is  bound  up  in  the  life  of  man,  and  man  must  be 
destroyed  ere  that  can  perish.  Behold,  then,  Aurelian, 
the  labour  that  is  thine !  " 

Soon  as  he  had  ceased,  Porphyrus  started  from  his  seat 
and  said, — 


342  LETTERS  EROM    ROME. 

"  It  is,  then,  0  Eomans,  just  as  it  has  ever  been  affirmed. 
The  Galileans  are  atheists !  They  believe  not  in  the  gods 
of  Eome,  nor  in  any  in  whom  mankind  can  ever  have  be 
lief.  I  doubt  not  but  they  think  themselves  believers  in  a 
God.  They  think  themselves  to  have  found  one  better 
than  others  have;  but  upon  any  definition  that  I  or  you 
could  give  or  understand  of  atheism,  they  are  atheists! 
Their  God  is  invisible ;  he  is  a  universal  spirit,  like  this 
circumambient  air, —  of  no  form,  dwelling  in  no  place.  But 
how  can  that  without  effrontery  be  called  a  being,  which  is 
without  body  and  form ;  which  is  everywhere  and  yet  no 
where  ;  which  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  has  never 
been  heard  of  till  by  these  Nazarenes  he  is  now  first 
brought  to  light, —  or,  if  older,  exists  in  the  dreams  of  the 
dreaming  Jews,  whose  religion,  as  they  term  it,  is  so 
stuffed  with  fable  that  one  might  not  expect,  after  the 
most  exact  and  laborious  search,  to  meet  with  so  much  as 
a  grain  of  truth  ?  Yet  whatever  these  Galileans  may  assert, 
their  speech  is  hardly  to  be  received  as  wholly  worthy  of 
belief,  when  in  their  very  sacred  records  such  things  are 
to  be  found  as  contradict  themselves.  For  in  one  place 
—  not  to  mention  a  thousand  cases  of  the  like  kind  —  it  is 
said  that  Jesus,  the  head  of  this  religion,  on  a  certain  oc 
casion  walked  upon  the  sea ;  when,  upon  sifting  the  nar 
rative,  it  is  found  that  it  was  but  upon  a  paltry  lake,  the 
lake  of  Galilee,  upon  which  he  performed  that  great  feat, — 
a  thing  to  which  the  magic  of  which  he  is  accused,  and 
doubtless  with  justice,  was  plainly  equal;  while  to  walk 
upon  the  sea  might  well  have  been  beyond  that  science. 
How  much  of  what  we  have  heard  is  to  be  distrusted,  also, 
concerning  the  love  which  these  Nazarenes  bear  to  Eome. 
We  may  well  pray  to  be  delivered  from  the  affection  of 
those  whose  love  manifests  itself  in  the  singular  manner 
of  seeking  our  destruction.  He  who  loves  me  so  well  as 
to  poison  me,  that  I  may  have  the  higher  enjoyment  of 
Elysium,  I  could  hardly  esteem  as  a  well-wisher  or  friend. 
These  Jewish  fanatics  love  us  after  somewhat  the  same 
fashion.  In  the  zeal  of  their  affection,  they  would  make 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  343 

us  heirs  of  what  they  call  their  heavenly  kingdom,  but  in 
the  mean  while  destroy  our  religion,  deprive  us  of  our  an 
cient  gods,  and  sap  the  foundations  of  the  state.  Romans, 
in  spite  of  all  you  have  heard  of  another  sort,  I  hope  you 
will  still  believe  that  experience  is  one  of  your  most  valu 
able  teachers,  and  that  therefore  you  will  be  slow  to  for 
sake  opinions  which  have  the  sanction  of  venerable  age, 
under  which  you  have  flourished  so  happily,  and  your 
country  grown  to  so  amazing  a  height  of  glory  and  renown. 
I  think  you  would  deserve  the  fate  which  this  new-made 
religion  would  bring  you  to,  if  you  abandoned  the  worship 
of  a  thousand  years  for  the  presumptuous  novelty  of  yes 
terday.  Not  a  name  of  greatness  or  honour  can  be  quoted 
of  those  who  have  adorned  this  foreign  fiction ;  while  all 
the  great  and  good  of  Greece  and  Rome,  philosophers,  mor 
alists,  historians,  and  poets,  are  to  be  found  on  the  side  of 
Hellenism.  If  we  cast  from  us  that  which  we  have  expe 
rienced  to  be  good,  by  what  rule,  and  on  what  principle, 
can  we  afterwards  put  our  trust  in  anything  else  ?  And  it 
is  considerable,  that  which  has  ever  been  asserted  of  this 
people,  and  which  I  doubt  not  is  true,  that  they  have  ever 
been  prying  about  with  their  doctrines  and  their  mysteries 
among  the  poor  and  humbler  sort,  among  women,  slaves, 
simple  and  unlearned  folks,  while  they  have  never  appealed 
to,  nor  made  any  converts  of  the  great,  the  learned,  the 
witty,  who  alone  are  capable  of  judging  of  the  truth  of 
what  they  put  forth.  Who  are  the  believers  here  in 
Jtome  ?  Who  knows  them  ?  Are  the  sacred  senate  Chris 
tians,  or  any  distinguished  for  their  rank  ?  No ;  with  the 
exceptions  too  few  to  be  noticed,  those  who  embrace  it  are 
among  the  dregs  of  the  people,  men  wholly  incapable  of 
separating  true  from  false,  and  laying  properly  the  safe 
foundations  of  a  new  religion,  — a  work  too  great  even  for 
philosophers.  And  not  only  does  this  religion  draw  to 
itself  the  poor,  and  humble,  and  ignorant,  but  the  base  and 
wicked  also;  persons  known  while  of  our  way  to  have 
been  notorious  for  their  vices  have  all  of  a  sudden  joined 
themselves  to  the  Christians ;  and  whatever  show  of  sane- 


344  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

tity  may  then  have  been  assumed,  we  may  well  suppose 
there  has  not  been  much  of  the  reality.  Long  may  it  boast 
of  such  members,  and  while  its  brief  life  lasts,  make  con 
tinually  such  converts  from  us.  As  to  the  amazing  show 
they  make  of  their  benevolence  in  the  care  of  the  poor,  and 
even  of  our  poor,  doing  more  offices  of  kindness  toward 
them  —  so  it  is  affirmed  —  than  we  ourselves,  who  does  not 
see  the  motive  that  prompts  so  much  charity,  in  the  good 
opinion  they  build  up  for  themselves  in  those  whom  they 
have  so  much  obliged,  and  who  cannot  in  decency  do  less 
afterwards  than  oblige  them  in  turn,  by  joining  their  su 
perstitions  ? —  superstitions  of  which  they  know  nothing 
before  they  adopt  them,  and  as  little  afterwards.  But  I 
will  not,  0  emperor,  weary  out  your  patience  again,  al 
ready  so  tried,  and  will  only  say  that  the  fate  which  has 
all  along  and  everywhere  befallen  these  people  might  well 
warn  them  that  they  are  objects  of  the  anger  rather  than 
the  favour  and  love  of  the  Lord  of  heaven,  of  which  they 
so  confidently  make  their  boast.  For  if  he  loved  them 
would  he  leave  them  everywhere  to  the  rage  and  destruc 
tion  of  their  enemies,  to  be  reviled,  trodden  upon,  and  de 
spised  all  over  the  earth  ?  If  these  be  the  signs  of  love 
what  are  those  of  hate  ?  And  can  it  be  that  he,  their  Lord 
of  heaven,  hath  in  store  for  them  a  world  of  bliss  beyond 
this  life,  who  gives  them  here  on  earth  scarce  the  sordid 
shelter  of  a  cabin  ?  In  truth,  they  seem  to  be  a  commu 
nity  living  upon  their  imaginations.  They  fancy  them 
selves  favourites  of  heaven,  though  all  the  world  thinks 
otherwise.  They  fancy  themselves  the  greatest  benefactors 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  while  they  are  the  only  ones  who 
think  so.  They  have  nothing  here  but  persecution,  con 
tempt,  and  hatred,  and  yet  are  anticipating  a  more  glorious 
Elysium  than  the  greatest  and  best  of  earth  have  ever  dared 
to  hope  for.  We  cannot  but  hope  they  may  be  at  some 
time  the  riddle  to  themselves  which  they  are  to  us.  This 
is  a  benevolent  wish,  for  their  entertainment  would  be 
great. " 

When  he  had  ended,  and  almost  before,  many  voices 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  345 

were  heard  of  those  who  wished  to  speak,  and  Probus  rose 
in  his  place  to  reply  to  what  had  fallen  from  the  philoso 
pher;  but  all  were  alike  silenced  by  the  loud  and  stern 
command  of  Aurelian,  who,  evidently  weary  and  impatient 
of  further  audience  of  what  he  was  so  little  willing  to  hear 
at  all,  cried  out,  saying,  - 

"  The  Christians,  Eomans,  have  now  been  heard,  as  they 
desired,  by  one  whom  they  themselves  appointed  to  set 
forth  their  doctrine.  This  is  no  school  for  the  disputations 
of  sophists,  or  philosophers,  or  fanatics.  Let  Eomans  and 
Christians  alike  withdraw. " 

Whereupon,  without  further  words  or  delay,  the  assem 
bly  broke  up. 

It  was  not  difficult  to  see  that  the  statements  and  rea 
sonings  of  Probus  had  fallen  upon  many  who  heard  them 
with  equal  surprise  and  delight.  Every  word  that  he  ut 
tered  was  heard  with  an  eager  attention  I  never  before  saw 
equalled.  I  have  omitted  the  greater  part  of  what  he  said, 
especially  where  he  went  with  minuteness  into  an  account 
of  the  history,  doctrine,  and  precepts  of  our  faith,  knowing 
it  to  be  too  familiar  to  you  to  make  it  desirable  to  have  it 
repeated. 

It  was  in  part,  at  least,  owing  to  an  unwillingness  to 
allow  Probus  again  to  address  that  audience  representing 
all  the  rank  and  learning  of  Eome,  that  the  emperor  so 
hastily  dissolved  the  assembly.  Whatever  effect  the  hear 
ing  of  Probus  may  have  upon  him  or  upon  us,  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  its  effects  will  be  deep  and  eternal 
upon  the  higher  classes  of  our  inhabitants.  They  then 
heard  what  they  never  heard  before,  —  a  fair  and  honest 
account  of  what  Christianity  is ;  and  from  what  I  have 
already  been  informed,  and  gathered  indeed  from  my  own 
observation  at  the  time,  they  now  regard  it  with  very  dif 
ferent  sentiments. 

When  late  in  the  evening  of  this  day  we  conversed  of  its 
events,  Probus  being  seated  with  us,  we  indulged  both  in 
those  cheering  and  desponding  thoughts  which  seem  to  be 
strangely  mingled  together  in  our  present  calamities. 


846  LETTERS    FROM  ROME. 

"  No  opinion, "  said  Julia,  "  lias  been  more  strongly 
confirmed  within  me  by  this  audience  before  Aurelian 
than  this,  that  it  has  been  of  most  auspicious  influence 
upon  our  faith.  Not  that  some  have  not  been  filled  with  a 
bitterer  spirit  than  before  ;  but  that  more  have  been  favour 
ably  inclined  towards  us  by  the  disclosures,  Probus,  which 
you  made ;  and  whether  they  become  Christians  or  not 
eventually,  they  will  be  far  more  ready  to  defend  us  in 
our  claim  for  the  common  rights  of  citizens.  Marcellinus, 
who  sat  near  me,  was  of  this  number.  He  expressed 
frequently,  in  most  emphatic  terms,  his  surprise  at  what 
he  heard,  which  he  said  he  was  constrained  to  admit  as 
true  and  fair  statements,  seeing  they  were  supported  and 
corroborated  by  my  and  your  presence  and  silence.  At 
the  close  he  declared  his  purpose  to  procure  the  Gospels 
for  his  perusal. " 

"  And  yet, "  said  I,  "  the  late  consul  Capitalinus,  who  was 
at  my  side,  and  whose  clear  and  intelligent  mind  is  hardly 
equalled  here  in  Rome,  was  confirmed  —  even  as  Porphyrus 
was,  or  pretended  to  be  —  in  all  his  previous  unfavourable 
impressions.  He  did  not  disguise  his  opinion,  but  freely 
said  that  in  his  judgment  the  religion  ought  to  be  sup 
pressed,  and  that,  though  he  should  by  no  means  defend 
any  measures  like  those  which  he  understood  Aurelian  had 
resolved  to  put  in  force,  he  should  advocate  such  action  in 
regard  to  it  as  could  not  fail  to  expel  it  from  the  empire  in 
no  very  great  number  of  years.  " 

"  I  could  observe, "  added  Probus,  "  the  same  differences 
of  feeling  and  judgment  all  over  the  surface  of  that  sea  of 
faces.  But  if  I  should  express  my  belief  as  to  the  propor 
tion  of  friends  and  enemies  there  present,  I  should  not 
hesitate  to  say  —  and  that,  I  am  sure,  without  any  imposi 
tion  upon  my  own  credulity  —  that  the  greater  part  by  far 
were  upon  our  side ;  not  in  faith,  as  you  may  suppose, 
but  in  that  good  opinion  of  us,  and  of  the  tendencies  of  our 
doctrine  and  the  value  of  our  services,  that  is  very  near  it, 
and  is  better  than  the  public  profession  of  Christ  of  many 
others. " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  347 

"  It  will  be  a  long  time,  I  am  persuaded, "  said  Julia, 
"  before  the  truths  received  then  into  many  minds  will 
cease  to  operate  in  our  behalf.  But  what  think  you  was 
the  feeling  of  Aurelian  ?  His  countenance  was  hidden 
from  me ;  yet  that  would  reveal  not  much.  It  is  immov 
able  at  those  times  when  he  is  deeply  stirred,  or  has  any 
motive  to  conceal  his  sentiments.  " 

"  I  cannot  believe, "  replied  Probus,  "  that  any  impres 
sion  such  as  we  could  wish  was  made  upon  that  hard  and 
cruel  heart.  Not  the  column  against  which  he  leaned 
stood  in  its  place  more  dead  to  whatever  it  was  that  came 
from  my  lips  than  he.  He  has  not  been  moved,  we  may 
well  believe,  to  change  any  of  his  designs.  Whatever 
yesterday  it  was  in  his  intent  to  do,  he  will  accomplish  to 
morrow.  I  do  not  believe  we  have  anything  to  hope  at 
his  hands. " 

"  Alas !  Lucius, "  said  Julia,  "  that  our  faith  in  Christ, 
and  our  interest  and  concern  for  its  progress  in  Eome, 
should  come  to  this.  How  happy  was  I  in  Syria,  with 
this  belief  as  my  bosom  companion  and  friend ;  and  free, 
too,  to  speak  of  it  to  any  and  to  all.  How  needless  is  all 
the  misery  which  this  rude,  unlettered  tyrant  is  about  to 
inflict.  How  happily  for  all  would  things  take  their  course 
even  here,  might  they  but  be  left  to  run  in  those  natural 
channels  which  would  reveal  themselves,  and  which 
would  then  conduct  to  those  ends  which  the  Divine  provi 
dence  has  proposed.  But  man  wickedly  interposes ;  and  a 
misery  is  inflicted  which  otherwise  would  have  never 
fallen  upon  us,  and  which,  in  the  counsels  of  God,  was 
never  designed.  What,  now,  think  you,  Probus,  will  be 
the  event  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  doubt, "  he  replied,  "  that  to-morrow  will  wit 
ness  all  that  report  has  already  spread  abroad  as  the  purpose 
of  Aurelian.  Urged  on  by  both  Fronto  and  Varus,  he  will 
not  pause  in  his  course.  Eome,  ere  the  ides,  will  swim  in 
Christian  blood.  I  see  not  whence  deliverance  is  to  come. 
Miracle  alone  could  save  us ;  and  miracle  has  long  since 
ceased  to  be  the  order  of  Providence.  Having  provided  for 


348  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

us  this  immense  instrument  of  moral  reform  in  the  author 
ity  and  doctrine  of  Christ,  we  are  now  left,  as  doubtless  it 
is  on  the  whole  best  for  our  character  and  our  virtues  we 
should  be,  to  our  own  unassisted  strength,  to  combat  with 
all  the  evils  that  may  assail  us,  both  from  without  and 
within.  For  myself,  I  can  meet  this  tempest  without  a 
thought  of  reluctance  or  dread.  I  am  a  solitary  man,  hav 
ing  neither  child  nor  relative  to  mourn  my  loss.  I  have 
friends,  indeed,  whom  I  love,  and  from  whom  I  would 
not  willingly  part;  but,  if  any  considerable  purpose  is  to 
be  gained  by  my  death  to  that  cause  for  which  I  have 
lived,  neither  I  nor  they  can  lament  that  it  should  occur. 
Under  these  convictions  as  to  my  own  fate  —  and  that  of 
all,  must  I  say  and  believe  ?  no ;  I  cannot,  will  not,  believe 
that  humanity  has  taken  its  final  departure  from  the  bosom 
of  Aurelian  —  I  turn  to  one  bright  spot,  and  there  my 
thoughts  dwell,  and  there  my  hopes  gather  strength ;  and 
that  is  here,  where  you,  Piso,  and  you,  lady,  will  still 
dwell,  too  high  for  the  aim  of  the  imperial  murderer  to 
reach.  Here,  I  shall  believe,  will  there  be  an  asylum  for 
many  a  wearied  spirit,  a  safe  refuge  from  the  sharp  pelting 
of  the  storm  without.  And  when  a  calm  shall  come  again, 
from  beneath  this  roof,  as  once  from  the  ark  of  God,  shall 
there  go  forth  those  who  shall  again  people  the  waste 
places  of  the  Church,  and  change  the  wilderness  of  death 
into  a  fruitful  garden  full  of  the  plants  of  God.  " 

"  That  it  is  the  present  purpose  of  Aurelian  to  spare  me, " 
I  answered,  "  whatever  provocation  I  may  give  him,  I  fully 
believe.  He  is  true;  and  his  word  to  that  end,  with  no 
wish  expressed  on  my  part,  has  been  given.  But  do  not 
suppose  that  in  that  direction  at  least  he  may  not  change 
his  purpose.  Superstitiously  mad  as  he  now  is,  a  mere 
plaything,  too,  in  the  bloody  hands  of  Fronto,  nothing 
can  well  be  esteemed  as  more  insecure  than  even  my  life, 
privileged  and  secure  as  I  may  seem.  If  it  should  occur  to 
him,  in  his  day  or  his  night  visions  and  dreams,  that  I 
more  than  others  should  be  an  acceptable  offering  to  his 
god,  my  life  would  be  to  him  but  as  that  of  an  insect  buz- 


FROM  PISO  TO  EAUSTA.  349 

zing  around  his  ear ;  and  being  dead  by  a  blow,  he  would 
miss  me  no  more.  Still,  let  the  mercy  that  is  vouchsafed, 
whether  great  or  little,  be  gratefully  confessed.  " 

You  then  see,  Fausta,  the  position  in  which  your  old 
friends  now  stand  here  in  Kome.  Who  could  have  be 
lieved,  when  we  talked  over  our  dangers  in  Palmyra,  that 
greater  and  more  dreadful  still  awaited  us  in  our  own 
home  ?  It  has  come  upon  us  with  such  suddenness  that  we 
can  scarce  believe  it  ourselves.  Yet  are  we  prepared,  with 
an  even  mind  and  a  trusting  faith,  for  whatever  may 
betide. 

It  is  happy  for  me  and  for  Julia  that  our  religion  has 
fixed  within  us  so  firm  a  belief  in  a  superintending  Provi 
dence,  who  orders  not  only  the  greatest  but  the  least 
events  of  life,  who  is  as  much  concerned  for  the  happiness 
and  the  moral  welfare  of  the  humblest  individual  as  he  is 
for  the  orderly  movement  of  a  world,  — that  we  sit  down 
under  the  shadows  that  overhang  us,  perfectly  convinced 
that  some  end  of  good  to  the  Church  or  the  world  is  to  be 
achieved  through  these  convulsions,  greater  than  could 
have  been  achieved  in  any  other  way.  The  Supreme  Euler, 
we  believe,  is  infinitely  wise  and  infinitely  good.  But  he 
would  be  neither,  if  unnecessary  suffering  were  meted 
out  to  his  creatures.  This  suffering,  then,  is  not  unneces 
sary.  But  through  it,  in  ways  which  our  sight  now  is 
not  piercing  enough  to  discern,  but  may  hereafter,  shall 
a  blessing  redound  both  to  the  individuals  concerned,  to 
the  present  generation,  and  a  remote  posterity,  which 
could  not  otherwise  have  been  secured.  This  we  must  be 
lieve,  or  we  must  renounce  all  belief. 

Forget  not  to  remember  us  with  affection  to  Gracchus 
and  Calpurnius. 

I  also  was  present  at  the  hearing  of  Probus.  But  of  that 
I  need  say  nothing,  Piso  having  so  fully  written  concerning 
it  to  the  daughter  of  Gracchus. 

Early  on  the  following  day  I  was  at  the  gardens  of  Sal- 
lust,  where  I  was  present  both  with  the  emperor  and  Livia, 


350  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 


and  with  the  emperor  and  Fronto,  and  heard  conversations 
which  I  here  record. 

When  I  entered  the  apartment  in  which  it  was  customary 
for  the  empress  to  sit  at  this  time  of  the  day,  I  found  her 
there  engaged  upon  her  embroidery,  while  the  emperor  paced 
back  and  forth,  his  arms  crossed  behind  him,  and  care  and 
anxiety  marked  upon  his  countenance.  Livia,  though  she 
sat  quietly  at  her  work,  seemed  ill  at  ease,  and  as  if  some 
thought  were  busy  within  to  which  she  would  gladly  give 
utterance.  She  was  evidently  relieved  by  my  entrance, 
and  immediately  made  her  usual  inquiries  after  the  health 
of  the  queen,  in  which  Aurelian  joined  her. 

Aurelian  then  turned  to  me  and  said,  — 

"  I  saw  you  yesterday  at  the  Palatine,  Nichomachus ; 
what  thought  you  of  the  Christian's  defence?" 

"  It  did  not  convert  me  to  his  faith  —  " 

"  Neither,  by  the  gods !  did  it  me, "  quickly  interrupted 
Aurelian. 

"  But, "  I  went  on,  "  it  seemed  to  show  good  cause  why 
they  should  not  be  harshly  or  cruelly  dealt  with.  He 
proved  them  to  be  a  harmless  people,  if  not  positively 
profitable  to  the  state. " 

"  I  do  not  see  that, "  replied  the  emperor.  "  It  is  impos 
sible  they  should  be  harmless  who  sap  the  foundations  of 
religion  ;  it  is  impossible  they  should  be  profitable  who 
seduce  from  their  allegiance  the  good  subjects  of  the  empire  ; 
and  this  religion  of  the  Christians  does  both. " 

"I  agree  that  it  is  so,"  I  rejoined,  "if  it  is  to  be  as 
sumed  in  the  controversy  that  the  prevailing  religion  of 
the  Romans  is  a  perfect  one,  and  that  any  addition  or  al 
teration  is  necessarily  an  evil.  That  seems  to  be  the  po 
sition  of  Porphyrus  and  others.  But  to  that  I  can  by  no 
means  assent.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  religions  of  man 
kind  are  susceptible  of  improvement,  as  governments  are, 
and  other  like  institutions;  that  what  may  be  perfectly 
well  suited  to  a  nation  in  one  stage  of  its  growth  may  be 
very  ill  adapted  to  another ;  that  the  gods,  in  their  provi 
dence,  accordingly  design  that  one  form  of  religious  wor- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  351 

ship  and  belief  should  in  successive  ages  be  superseded  by 
others,  which  shall  be  more  exactly  suited  to  their  larger 
growth  and  more  urgent  necessities.  The  religion  of  the 
early  days  of  Rome  was  perhaps  all  that  so  rude  a  people 
were  capable  of  comprehending, —  all  that  they  wanted.  It 
worked  well  for  them,  and  you  have  reason  for  gratitude 
that  it  was  bestowed  upon  them,  and  has  conferred  so  great 
benefits  upon  the  preceding  centuries.  But  the  light  of 
the  sun  is  not  clearer  than  it  is  that,  for  this  present, 
passing  age,  that  religion  is  stark  naught.  "  The  emperor 
frowned,  and  stood  still  in  his  walk,  looking  sternly  upon 
me,  but  I  heeded  him  not.  "  Most  of  any  intelligence  and 
reflection, "  I  continued,  "  spurn  it  away  from  them  as  fit 
but  for  children  and  slaves.  Must  they,  then,  be  without 
any  principle  of  this  kind  ?  Is  it  safe  for  a  community  to 
grow  up  without  faith  in  a  superintending  power,  from 
whom  they  come,  to  whom  they  are  responsible  ?  I  think 
not.  In  any  such  community  —  and  Eome  is  becoming 
such  a  one  —  the  elements  of  disruption,  anarchy,  and 
ruin  are  there  at  work,  and  will  overthrow  it.  A  society 
of  atheists  is  a  contradiction  in  terms.  Atheists  may  live 
alone,  but  not  together.  Will  you  compel  your  subjects  to 
become  such  ?  If  a  part  remain  true  to  the  ancient  faith, 
and  find  it  to  be  sufficient,  will  you  deny  to  the  other  part 
the  faith  which  they  crave,  and  which  would  be  sufficient 
for  them  ?  I  doubt  if  that  were  according  to  the  dictates 
of  wisdom  and  philosophy.  And  how  know  you,  Aurelian, 
that  this  religion  of  Christ  may  not  be  the  very  principle 
which,  and  which  alone,  may  save  your  people  from  athe 
ism,  and  your  empire  from  the  ruin  that  it  would  bring 
along  in  its  train  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  deny, "  said  the  emperor  in  reply,  K  that  there 
is  some  sense  and  apparent  truth  in  what  you  have  said. 
But  to  me  it  is  shadowy  and  intangible.  It  is  the  specula 
tion  of  that  curious  class  among  men  who,  never  satisfied 
with  what  exists,  are  always  desiring  some  new  forms  of 
truth,  in  religion,  in  government,  and  all  subjects  of  that 
nature.  I  could  feel  no  more  certain  of  going  or  doing 


352  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

right  by  conforming  to  their  theories,  than  I  feel  now  in 
adhering  to  what  is  already  established.  Nay,  I  can  see 
safety  nowhere  but  in  what  already  is.  There  is  the  only 
certainty.  Suppose  some  enthusiast  in  matters  of  govern 
ment  were  to  propose  his  system,  by  which  the  present 
established  institutions  were  all  to  be  abandoned  and  new 
ones  set  up ;  should  I  permit  him  to  go  freely  among  the 
people,  puzzling  their  heads  with  what  it  is  impossible 
they  should  understand,  and  by  his  sophistries  alienating 
them  from  their  venerable  parent  ?  Not  so,  by  Hercules ! 
I  should  ill  deserve  my  office  of  supreme  guardian  of  the 
honour  and  liberties  of  Rome,  did  I  not  mew  him  up  in 
the  Fabrician  dungeons,  or  send  him  lower  still  to  the 
Stygian  shades. " 

"  But, "  said  Livia,  who  had  seemed  anxious  to  speak, 
"  though  it  may  be  right  and  best  for  the  interests  of  Rome 
to  suppress  this  new  worship,  yet  why,  Aurelian,  need  it 
be  done  at  such  expense  of  life  ?  Can  no  way  be  devised 
by  which  the  professors  of  this  faith  shall  be  banished  the 
realm,  and  no  new  teachers  of  it  permitted  to  enter  it  af 
terwards  but  at  the  risk  of  life,  or  some  other  appointed 
penalty  ?  Sure  I  am,  from  what  I  heard  from  the  Chris 
tian  Probus,  and  what  I  have  heard  so  often  from  the  lips 
of  Julia,  this  people  cannot  be  the  sore  in  the  body  of  the 
state  which  Fronto  represents  them.  " 

"  I  cannot,  Livia, "  replied  the  emperor,  "  refuse  to  obey 
what  to  me  have  been  warnings  from  the  gods. " 

"  But  may  not  the  heavenly  signs  have  been  read 
amiss  ?  "  rejoined  Livia. 

"  There  is  no  truth  in  augury,  if  my  duty  be  not  where 
I  have  placed  it,"  answered  Aurelian. 

"  And  perhaps,  Aurelian,  there  is  none.  I  have  heard 
that  the  priests  of  the  temples  play  many  a  trick  upon 
their  devout  worshippers.  " 

"  Livia,  it  has  doubtless  been  so ;  but  you  would  not 
believe  that  Fronto  has  trifled  with  Aurelian  ?  " 

"  I  believe  Fronto  capable  of  any  crime  by  which  the 
gods  may  be  served.  Have  you  not  heard,  Aurelian,  what 
fell  from  the  dying  Christian's  lips  ?  " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  353 

"  I  have,  Livia ;  and  have  cast  it  from  me  as  at  best  the 
coinage  of  a  moonstruck  mountebank.  Shall  the  word  of 
such  a  one  as  Macer  the  Christian  unseat  my  trust  in  such 
a  one  as  Froiito  ?  That  were  not  reasonable,  Livia.  " 

"  Then,  Aurelian,  if  not  for  any  reason  that  I  can  give, 
for  the  love  you  bear  me  withhold  your  hand  from  this 
innocent  people.  You  have  often  asked  me  to  crave 
somewhat  which  it  would  be  hard  for  you  to  grant,  that 
you  might  show  how  near  you  hold  me.  Grant  me  this 
favour,  and  it  shall  be  more  to  me  than  if  you  gave  me 
half  the  empire.  " 

The  emperor's  stern  countenance  relaxed,  and  wore  for  a 
moment  that  softened  expression,  accompanied  by  a  smile, 
that  on  his  face  might  be  termed  beautiful.  He  was  moved 
by  the  unaffected  warmth  and  winning  grace  with  which 
those  words  ware  spoken  by  Livia.  But  he  only  said,  - 

"  I  love  thee,  Livia,  as  thou  knowest,  but  not  so  well  as 
Rome.  * 

"I  would  not,  Aurelian,"  replied  the  empress,  "that 
love  of  me  should  draw  you  away  from  what  you  owe  to 
Rome,  from  what  is  the  clear  path  of  a  monarch's  duty; 
but  this  seems  confessedly  a  doubtful  case.  They  who  are 
equally  Roman  in  their  blood  differ  here.  It  is  not  wrong 
to  ask  you,  for  my  sake,  to  lean  to  the  side  of  mercy. " 

"  You  are  never  wrong,  Livia.  And  were  it  only  right 
to —  " 

"  But  are  not  you,  Aurelian,  sure  of  being  right  in  being 
merciful  ?  Can  it  ever  afterwards  repent  you  that  you  drew 
back  from  the  shedding  of  blood  ?  " 

"It  is  called  mercy,  Livia,  when  he  who  has  the  power 
spares  the  culprit,  forgives  the  offence,  and  sends  him  from 
the  gibbet  or  the  cross  back  to  his  weeping  friends.  The 
crowds  throw  up  their  caps,  and  shout  as  for  some  great 
and  good  deliverance.  But  the  mercy  tha"t  returns  upon 
the  world  a  villain,  whose  crimes  had  richly  earned  for 
him  his  death,  is  surely  a  doubtful  virtue.  Though,  as  is 
well  known,  I  am  not  famed  for  mercy,  yet  were  it  clear  to 
me  what  in  this  case  were  the  truest  mercy, — for  the 

23 


354  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

pleasure,  Livia,  of  pleasuring  thee,  I  would  be  merciful. 
But  I  should  not  agree  with  thee  in  what  is  mercy.  It 
were  no  mercy  to  Eome,  as  I  judge,  to  spare  these  Chris 
tians,  whatever  the  grace  might  be  to  them.  Punishment 
is  often  mercy.  In  destroying  these  wretches,  I  am  merci 
ful  both  to  Eome  and  to  the  world,  and  shall  look  to  have 
their  thanks. " 

"  There  comes,  Aurelian, "  said  Livia,  rising,  "  thy  evil 
genius,  thy  ill-possessing  demon,  who  has  so  changed 
the  kindly  current  of  thy  blood.  I  would  that  he  who  so 
loves  the  gods  were  with  them.  I  cannot  wait  him.  " 

With  these  words  Livia  arose  and  left  the  apartment, 
just  as  Fronto  entered  in  another  direction. 

"  Welcome,  Fronto !  "  said  Aurelian.  "  How  thrive  our 
affairs  ?  " 

"  As  we  could  wish,  great  emperor.  The  city  with  us, 
and  the  gods  with  us,  we  cannot  but  prosper.  A  few  days 
will  see  great  changes.  " 

"  How  turns  out  the  tale  of  Curio  ?  What  find  you  to  be 
the  truth  ?  Are  the  Christians  here,  or  are  they  fled  ?  " 

"  His  tale  was  partly  false  and  partly  true.  More  are 
fled  than  Piso  or  the  Christians  will  allow ;  but,  doubtless, 
the  greater  part,  by  large  odds,  remain.  " 

"  That  is  well.  Then,  for  the  other  side  of  this  great 
duty.  Is  thine  own  house  purged  ?  Is  the  temple,  new 
and  of  milk-white  marble,  now  as  clean  and  white  in  its 
priesthood  ?  Have  those  young  sots  and  pimps  yet  atoned 
for  their  foul  impieties  ?  " 

"  They  have, "  replied  Fronto.  "  They  have  been  dealt 
with ;  and  their  carcasses,  swinging  and  bleaching  in  the 
wind,  will  long  serve,  I  trust,  to  keep  us  sweet.  The 
temple,  I  now  may  believe,  is  thoroughly  swept.  " 

"  And  how  is* it,  Fronto,  with  the  rest?  " 

"  The  work  goes  on.  Your  messengers  are  abroad ;  and 
it  will  be  neither  for  want  of  power,  will,  nor  zeal,  if  from 
this  time  Hellenism  stand  not  before  the  world  as  beautiful 
in  her  purity  as  she  is  venerable  in  years  and  truth. " 

"  The  gods  be  praised  that  I  have  been  stirred  up  to  this ! 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  355 

When  this  double  duty  shall  be  done,  Hellenism  reformed, 
and  her  enemy  extinct,  then  may  I  say  that  life  has  not 
been  spent  for  naught.  But  meanwhile,  Fronto,  the  army 
needs  me.  All  is  prepared,  and  letters  urge  me  on.  To 
morrow  I  would  start  for  Thrace.  Yet  it  cannot  be  so 
soon. " 

a  No, "  said  the  priest.  "  Kome  will  need  you  more 
than  Thrace  till  the  edicts  have  been  published,  and  the 
work  well  begun.  Then,  Aurelian,  may  it  be  safely  in 
trusted,  so  far  as  zeal  and  industry  shall  serve,  to  those 
behind. " 

"  I  believe  it,  Fronto.  I  see  myself  doubly  reflected 
in  thee ;  and  almost  so  in  Varus.  The  Christians,  were  I 
gone,^  would  have  four  Aurelians  for  one.  Well,  let  us  re 
joice  that  piety  is  not  dead.  The  sacrifice  this  morning 
was  propitious.  I  feel  its  power  in  every  thought  and 
movement. " 

"  But  while  all  things  else  seem  propitious,  Aurelian, 
one  keeps  yet  a  dark  and  threatening  aspect. " 

"  What  mean  you  ?  " 

"Piso!—  " 

"  Fronto,  I  have  in  that  made  known  my  will,  and  more 
than  once.  Why  again  dispute  it  ?  " 

"  I  know  no  will,  great  Caesar,  that  may  cross  or  sur 
mount  that  of  the  gods.  They  to  me  are  supreme,  not 
Aurelian. " 

Aurelian  moved  from  the  priest  and  paced  the  room. 

"  I  see  not,  Fronto,  with  such  plainness,  the  will  of 
Heaven  in  this. " 

'T  is  hard  to  see  the  divine  will  when  the  human  will 
is  so  strong.  " 

"  My  aim  is  to  please  the  gods  in  all  things, "  replied  the 
emperor. 

"  Love,  too,  Aurelian,  blinds  the  eye,  and  softening  the 
heart  toward  our  fellow-men,  hardens  it  toward  the  gods. " 
This  he  uttered  with  a  strange  significancy. 

*  I  think,  Fronto,  mine  has  been  all  too  hard  toward 
man,  if  it  were  truly  charged.  At  least,  of  late,  the  gods 
can  have  no  ground  of  blame.  " 


356  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  Kome, "  replied  the  priest,  "  is  not  slow  to  see  and  praise 
the  zeal  that  is  now  crowning  her  seven  hills  with  a  greater 
glory  than  ever  yet  has  rested  on  them.  Let  her  see  that 
her  great  son  can  finish  what  has  been  so  well  begun.  " 

"  Fronto,  I  say  it,  but  I  say  it  with  some  inward  pain, 
that  were  it  plain  the  will  of  the  gods  were  so  —  " 

"  Piso  should  die ! "  eagerly  interrupted  the  priest. 

"  I  will  not  say  it  yet,  Fronto.  " 

"  I  see  not  why  Aurelian  should  stagger  at  it.  If  the 
will  of  the  gods  is  in  this  whole  enterprise,  if  they  will 
that  these  hundreds  and  thousands,  these  crowds  of  young 
and  old,  little  children  and  tender  youth,  should  all 
perish,  that  posterity,  by  such  sacrifice  now  in  the  begin 
ning,  may  be  delivered  from  the  curse  that  were  else  en 
tailed  upon  them,  then  who  can  doubt,  to  whom  truth  is 
the  chief  thing,  that  they  will,  nay,  and  ordain  in  their 
sacred  breasts,  that  he  who  is  their  chief  and  head,  about 
whom  they  cluster,  from  whose  station  and  power  they 
daily  draw  fresh  supplies  of  courage,  should  perish  too,  — 
nay,  that  he  should  be  the  first  great  offering ;  that  so  the 
multitudes,  who  stay  their  weak  faith  on  him,  may,  on 
his  loss,  turn  again  unharmed  to  their  ancient  faith  ?  That, 
too,  were  the  truest  mercy. " 

"  There  may  be  something  in  that,  Fronto.  Neverthe 
less,  I  do  not  yet  see  so  much  to  rest  upon  one  life.  If  all 
the  rest  were  dead  and  but  one  alive,  and  he  Piso,  I  see 
not  but  the  work  were  done.  " 

"A  thousand  were  better  left,  Aurelian,  than  Piso  and 
the  lady  Julia !  They  are  more  in  the  ears  and  eyes  of 
Eome  than  all  the  preachers  of  this  accursed  tribe.  They 
are  preaching,  not  on  their  holidays,  to  a  mob  of  beggarly 
knaves,  men  and  women  dragged  up  by  their  hot  and  zeal 
ous  caterers  from  the  lanes  and  kennels  of  the  city,  within 
the  walls  of  their  filthy  synagogues,  but  they  preach  every 
day  to  the  very  princes  and  nobles  of  the  state,  at  the 
Capitol  to  the  senate,  here  in  thy  palaces  to  all  the  great 
est  and  best  of  Eome ;  and,  by  the  gods  L  as  I  believe,  make 
more  converts  to  their  impieties  than  all  the  army  of  their 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  357 

atheistical  priesthood.  Upon  Probus,  Piso,  and  Julia, 
hang  the  Christians  of  Eome.  Hew  them  away,  and  the 
branches  die.  Probus,  ere  to-morrow's  sun  is  set,  feeds 
the  beasts  of  the  Flavian ;  then  - 

"  Hold,  Fronto !  I  will  no  more  of  it  now.  I  have,  be 
sides,  assured  Piso  of  his  safety.  " 

"  There  is  no  virtue  like  that  of  those  who,  having  erred, 
repent. " 

Aurelian  looked  for  the  moment  as  if  he  would  willingly 
have  hurled  Fronto,  and  his  temple  after  him,  to  Tartarus. 
But  the  bold  man  heeded  him  not. 

"  Shall  I, "  he  continued,  "  say  what  it  is  that  thus  ties 
the  hands  of  the  conqueror  of  the  world  ?  " 

"  Say  what  thou  wilt.  " 

"  Eome  says  —  I  say  it  not,  but  Eome  says  't  is  love.  " 

"  What  mean  they  ?     I  take  you  not.     Love  ?  " 

"  Of  the  princess  Julia,  still  so  called.  " 

A  deep  blush  burned  upon  the  cheek  of  Aurelian.  He 
paused  a  moment,  as  if  for  some  storm  within  to  subside. 
He  then  said,  in  his  deep  tone  that  indicates  the  presence 
of  the  whole  soul,  but  without  passion,  — 

"  Fronto,  't  is  partly  true,  —  truer  than  I  wish  it  were. 
When  in  Syria  my  eye  first  beheld  her,  I  loved  her,  —  as  I 
never  loved  before,  and  never  shall  again.  But  not  for 
the  emperor  of  the  world  would  she  part  from  young  Piso. 
I  sued  as  man  never  sued  before,  but  all  in  vain.  Her 
image  still  haunts  the  chambers  of  my  brain ;  yet  with 
truth  do  I  say  it,  but  as  some  pure  vision,  sent  from  the 
gods.  I  confess,  Fronto,  it  is  she  who  stands  between  me 
and  the  will  of  Heaven.  I  know  not  what  force  but  that  of 
all  the  gods  could  make  me  harm  her.  To  no  other  ear  has 
this  ever  been  revealed.  She  is  to  me  god  and  goddess.  " 

"  Now,  Aurelian,  that  thou  hast  spoken  in  the  fulness  of 
thy  heart,  do  I  hold  thee  redeemed  from  the  invisible  ty 
rant.  In  our  own  hearts  we  sin  and  err,  as  we  dare  not 
when  the  covering  is  off  and  others  can  look  in  and  see 
how  weak  we  are.  Thou  canst  not,  great  Caesar,  for  this 
fondness,  forget  and  put  far  from  thee  the  vision  of  thy 


358  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

mother,  whom,  in  dreams  or  in  substantial  shape,  the  gods 
sent  down  to  revive  thy  fainting  zeal !  Let  it  not  be  that 
that  call  shall  have  been  in  vain. " 

"  Fronto,  urge  now  no  more.     Hast  thou  seen  Varus  ?  " 

"  I  have. " 

"  Are  the  edicts  ready  ?  " 

"  They  are. " 

"  Again,  then,  at  the  hour  of  noon,  let  them  glare  forth 
upon  the  enemies  of  Rome  from  the  columns  of  the  Capitol. 
Let  Varus  be  so  instructed.  Now  I  would  be  alone. " 

Whereupon  the  priest  withdrew,  and  I  also  rose  from 
where  I  had  sat,  to  take  my  leave,  when  the  emperor  said : 

"  This  seems  harsh  to  thee,  Nichomachus.  " 

"  I  cannot  but  pray  the  gods, "  I  said,  "  to  change  the 
mind  of  Aurelian!" 

"  They  have  made  his  mind  what  it  is,  Nichomachus.  " 

"  Not  they, "  I  said,  "  but  Fronto.  " 

"  But, "  he  quickly  added,  "  the  gods  made  Fronto,  and 
have  put  their  mind  in  him,  or  it  has  never  been  known 
on  earth.  You  know  not  the  worth,  Greek,  of  this  man. 
Had  Rome  possessed  such  a  one  two  hundred  years  ago, 
this  work  had  not  now  to  be  done. " 

Saying  which,  he  withdrew  into  his  inner  apartment, 
and  I  sought  again  the  presence  of  Livia. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  359 


LETTEE  XL 

FROM   PISO   TO  FAUSTA. 

PROBUS  IMPRISONED.  —  THE  LIONS  AND  THE  CAPTIVES.  —  VARUS 
TEMPTS  PROBUS.  —  CHRISTIAN  RESOLUTION.  —  ISAAC'S  SYM 
PATHY.  —  THE  CHRISTIAN  TO  THE  LIONS.  —  THE  VIVARIA 
OPENED.  —  PISO  AND  JULIA  IMPRISONED.  —  JULIA'S  DANGER 
FROM  FRONTO.  —  PISO  REFUSES  TO  ESCAPE.  —  JULIA  ON  THE 
RACK.  —  SAVED.  — TACITUS  EMPEROR.  —  AURELIAN'S  SECRE 
TARY. —  THE  TRAITOR.  —  AURELIAN  SLAIN.  —  CONCLUSION. 

A  DAY  has  passed,  Fausta,  since  the  hearing  of  Probus, 
and  I  hasten  to  inform  you  of  its  events. 

But,  first  of  all,  before  I  enter  upon  the  dark  chapter  of 
our  calamities,  let  me  cheer  you  and  myself  by  dwelling  a 
moment  upon  one  bright  and  sunny  spot.  Early  in  the 
day  we  were  informed  that  Isaac  was  desirous  to  see  us. 
He  was  at  once  admitted.  As  he  entered,  it  was  easy  to 
see  that  some  great  good  fortune  had  befallen  him.  His 
face  shone  through  the  effect  of  some  inward  joy,  and  his 
eyes  sparkled  in  their  deep  sockets  like  burning  tapers. 
When  our  customary  salutations  and  inquiries  were  over, 
Julia  said  to  him, — 

"  I  think,  Isaac,  you  must  have  sold  a  jewel  this  morn 
ing  to  no  less  a  person  than  Aurelian,  if  the  face  may  be 
held  as  an  index  of  our  good  fortune.  " 

"  I  have  parted  with  no  jewel,  lady,  "  he  replied,  "  but 
there  has  fallen  into  my  hands  a  diamond  of  inestimable 
value,  drawn  from  the  mines  of  the  Orient,  which  I  may 
say  not  all  the  wealth  of  Aurelian  could  purchase  of  me. 
Whenever  I  shall  receive  such  permission,  it  will  give  me 
highest  delight  to  show  it  to  thee. " 

"  Only  a  single  jewel,  Isaac  ?  "  said  Julia.  "  Is  it  but 
one  stone  that  so  transports  thee  and  makes  thy  face  that 
of  a  young  man  ? " 


360  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 


"  Lady,  to  confess  the  truth,  there  are  four, —  four  living 
stones  and  precious,  more  precious  than  any  that  of  old 
blazed  upon  the  breastplate  of  our  high-priest.  Princess, 
I  have  come  to  tell  thee  and  Piso  what  none  in  Eome 
besides,  as  I  think, would  care  to  know;  and  strange  it  is 
that  you  Christians  should  be  those  whom  I,  a  Jew,  most 
love,  and  that  I,  an  old  and  worn-out  man,  should  fill  any 
space,  were  it  no  bigger  than  a  grain  of  wheat,  in  your 
regards.  I  have  come  to  tell  you  what  you  have  already 
discovered,  that  Hagar  is  arrived  with  the  young  Ishmael, 
and  with  them  two  dark-eyed  daughters  of  Israel,  who  are 
as  welcome  as  the  others.  There  is  not  now,  Piso,  within 
the  walls  of  Eome  a  dwelling  happier  than  mine.  Soon 
as  leisure  and  inclination  shall  serve,  come,  if  you  will  do 
us  such  grace,  to  the  street  Janus,  and  behold  our  content 
ment.  Sorry  am  I  that  the  times  come  laden  to  you  with 
so  many  terrors.  Piso,"  continued  he  in  a  more  earnest 
tone,  and  bending  toward  me,  "  rely  upon  the  word  of  one 
who  is  rarely  deceived,  and  who  now  tells  thee  there  is 
a  sword  hanging  over  thy  head !  Fronto  thirsts  for  thy 
life,  and  thine,  lady !  and  Aurelian,  much  as  he  may  love 
you,  is,  as  we  have  already  seen,  not  proof  against  the 
violent  zeal  of  the  priest.  Come  to  the  street  Janus,  and 
I  will  warrant  you  safety  and  life.  There  is  none  for 
you  here,  nor  in  Eome,  if  Aurelian 's  hounds  can  scent 
you. " 

We  were  again  obliged  to  state,  with  all  the  force  we 
could  give  to  them,  the  reasons  which  bound  us  to  remain 
not  only  in  Eome,  but  in  our  own  dwelling,  and  await 
whatever  the  times  might  bring  forth.  He  was  again  slow 
to  be  convinced,  so  earnestly  does  he  desire  our  safety. 
But  at  length  he  was  persuaded  that  he  himself  would  take 
the  same  course  were  he  called  upon  to  defend  the  religion 
of  his  fathers.  He  then  departed,  having  first  exacted  a 
promise  that  we  would  soon  see  his  new  family. 

Soon  as  Isaac  was  gone,  I  sought  the  streets.  Eome, 
Fausta,  has  put  on  the  appearance  of  the  Saturnalia.  Al 
though  110  license  of  destruction  has  yet  been  publicly 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  361 

given,  the  whole  city  is  in  commotion,  —  the  lower  orders 
noisy  and  turbulent,  as  if  they  had  already  received  their 
commission  of  death.  Efforts  have  been  made,  both  on  the 
part  of  the  senate  and  that  of  the  nobles  who  are  not  of 
that  body,  joined  by  many  of  all  classes,  to  arrest  the  em 
peror  in  his  murderous  career,  but  in  vain.  Not  the  seven 
hills  are  more  firmly  rooted  in  the  earth  than  he  in  his. pur 
poses  of  blood.  This  is  well  known  abroad  ;  and  the  people 
are  the  more  emboldened  in  the  course  they  take.  They 
know  well  that  Aurelian  is  supreme  and  omnipotent ;  that 
no  power  in  Eome  can  come  in  between  him  and  his  object, 
whatever  it  may  be ;  and  that  they,  therefore,  though  they 
should  err  through  their  haste,  and  in  their  zeal  even  go 
before  the  edicts,  would  find  in  him  a  lenient  judge.  No 
Christian  was  accordingly  to  be  now  seen  in  the  streets ; 
for  nowhere  were  they  safe  from  the  ferocious  language,  or 
even  the  violent  assaults,  of  the  mob.  These  cruel  execu 
tioners  I  found  all  along,  wherever  I  moved,  standing 
about  in  groups,  as  if  impatiently  awaiting  the  hour  of 
noon,  or  else  gathered  about  the  dwellings  of  well-known 
Christians,  assailing  the  buildings  with  stones,  and  the 
ears  of  their  pent-up  inhabitants  with  all  that  variety  of 
imprecation  they  so  well  know  how  to  use.  It  was  almost 
with  sensations  of  guilt  that  I  walked  the  streets  of  Eome 
in  safety,  bearing  a  sort  of  charmed  life,  while  these  thou 
sands  of  my  friends  y/ere  already  suffering  more  through 
their  horrible  anticipation  than  they  would  when  they 
should  come  to  endure  the  reality.  But  although  I  passed 
along  uninjured  by  actual  assault,  the  tongue  was  freely  let 
loose  upon  me,  and  promises  were  abundantly  lavished 
that,  before  many  days  were  gone,  not  even  the  name  of 
Piso,  nor  the  favour  of  Aurelian,  should  save  me  from  the 
common  doom. 

As  the  hour  of  noon  drew  nigh,  it  seemed  as  if  the  entire 
population  of  Rome  was  pouring  itself  into  the  streets  and 
avenues  leading  to  the  Capitol.  Not  the  triumph  of  Aure 
lian  itself  filled  this  people  with  a  more  absorbing,  and,  as 
it  appeared,  a  more  pleasing  interest  than  did  the  ap- 


362  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

preaching  calamities  of  the  Christians.  Expectation  was 
written  on  every  face.  Even  the  boys  threw  up  their  caps, 
as  in  anticipation  of  somewhat  that  was  to  add  greatly  to 
their  happiness. 

The  sixth  hour  has  come,  and  is  gone.  The  edicts  are 
published,  and  the  Christians  are  now  declared  enemies  of 
the  state  and  of  the  gods,  and  are  required  to  be  informed 
against  by  all  good  citizens,  and  arraigned  before  the  pre 
fect  and  the  other  magistrates  especially  appointed  for  the 
purpose.  All  is  now  confusion,  uproar,  and  cruel  violence. 

No  sooner  was  the  purport  of  the  edicts  ascertained  by 
the  multitudes  who,  on  this  occasion  as  before,  thronged 
the  Capitol,  than  they  scattered  in  pursuit  of  their  victims. 
The  priests  of  the  temples  heading  the  furious  crowds, 
they  hastened  from  the  hill  in  every  direction,  assailing  as 
they  reached  them  the  houses  of  the  Christians,  and 
dragging  the  wretched  inhabitants  to  the  presence  of  their 
barbarous  judges.  Although  in  the  present  edicts  the 
people  are  not  let  loose  as  authorized  murderers  upon  the 
Christians,  they  are  nevertheless  exhorted  and  required  to 
inform  against  them,  and  bring  them  before  the  proper  tri 
bunals  on  the  charge  of  Christianity;  so  that  there  is 
lodged  in  their  hands  a  fearful  power  to  harass  and  injure, 
—  a  power  which  is  used  as  you  may  suppose  Eomans 
would  use  it.  Every  species  of  violence  has  this  day  been 
put  in  practice  upon  this  innocent  people ;  their  perpe 
trators  feeling  sure  that,  in  the  confusion,  deeds  at  which 
even  Varus  or  Aurelian  might  take  offence,  will  be  over 
looked.  The  tribunals  have  been  thronged  from  noon  till 
night  with  Christians  and  their  accusers.  As  the  exami 
nation  of  those  who  have  been  brought  up  has  rarely  occu 
pied  but  a  few  moments,  —  the  evidence  always  being 
sufficiently  full  to  prove  them  Christians,  and  when  that 
has  been  wanting  their  own  ready  confession  supplying  the 
defect, —  the  prisons  are  already  filling  with  their  unhappy 
tenants,  and  extensive  provisions  are  making  to  receive 
them  in  other  buildings  set  apart  for  the  time  to  this  office. 
A  needless  provision ;  for  it  requires  but  little  knowledge 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA,  363 

of  Aurelian  to  know  that  his  impatient  temper  will  not 
long  endure  the  tedious  process  of  a  regular  accusation, 
trial,  condemnation,  and  punishment.  A  year,  in  that 
case,  would  scarce  suffice  to  make  away  with  the  Christians 
of  Eome.  Long  before  the  prisons  can  be  emptied  in  a 
legal  way  of  the  tenants  already  crowding  them,  will  the 
emperor  resort  to  the  speedier  method  of  a  general  and  in 
discriminate  massacre.  No  one  can  doubt  this,  who  is  fa 
miliar  as  I  am  with  Aurelian,  and  the  spirits  who  now 
rule  him. 

Let  me  tell  you  now  of  the  fate  of  Probus. 

He  was  seated  within  his  own  quiet  home  at  the  time 
the  edicts  were  proclaimed  from  the  steps  of  the  Capitol. 
The  moment  the  herald  who  proclaimed  them  had  pro 
nounced  the  last  word,  and  was  affixing  them  to  the  col 
umn,  the  name  of  Probus  was  heard  shouted  from  one  side 
of  the  hill  to  the  other,  and  while  the  multitude  scattered 
in  every  direction  in  pursuit  of  those  who  were  known  to 
them  severally  as  Christians,  a  large  division  of  it  made  on 
the  instant  for  the  dwelling  of  Probus.  On  arriving  there, 
roused  by  the  noise  of  the  approaching  throng,  Probus  came 
forth.  He  was  saluted  by  cries  and  yells,  that  seemed 
rather  to  proceed  from  troops  of  wild  beasts  than  men.  He 
would  fain  have  spoken  to  them,  but  no  word  would  they 
hear.  "  Away  with  the  Christian  dog  to  the  prefect !  " 
arose  in  one  deafening  shout  from  the  people ;  and  Probus, 
being  on  the  instant  seized  and  bound,  was  led  unresisting 
away  to  the  tribunal  of  Varus. 

As  he  was  dragged  violently  along,  and  was  now  passing 
the  door  which  leads  to  the  room  where  Varus  sits,  Felix 
the  bishop,  having  already  stood  before  the  prefect,  was 
leaving  the  hall,  urged  along  by  soldiers  who  were  bearing 
him  to  prison. 

"  Be  of  good  cheer,  Probus, "  exclaimed  he ;  "a  crown 
awaits  thee  within.  Eome  needs  thy  life,  and  Christ  thy 
soul.  " 

"  Peace,  dotard !  "  cried  one  of  those  who  guarded  and 
led  him ;  and  at  the  same  moment  brought  his  spear  with 


364  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

such  force  upon  his  head  that  he  felled  him  to  the 
pavement. 

"  Thou  hast  slain  thyself,  soldier,  by  that  blow,  rather 
than  him, "  said  Probus.  "  Thine  own  faith  has  torments 
in  reserve  for  such  as  thou.  " 

"  Thou  too !  "  cried  the  enraged  soldier ;  and  he  would 
have  repeated  the  blow  upon  the  head  of  Probus,  but  that 
the  descending  weapon  was  suddenly  struck  upwards  and 
out  of  the  hand  of  him  who  wielded  it,  by  another  belong 
ing  to  the  same  legion,  who  guarded  Probus,  saying  as  he 
did  so,  — 

"  Hold,  Mutius !  it  is  not  Eoman  to  strike  the  bound  and 
defenceless,  Christians  though  they  be.  Raise  that  fallen 
old  man,  and  apply  such  restoratives  as  the  place  affords. " 
And  then  with  other  directions  to  those  who  were  subordi 
nate  to  him,  he  moved  on,  bearing  Probus  with  him. 

Others,  who  had  arrived  before  him,  were  standing  in 
the  presence  of  Varus,  who  was  qu  stioning  them  as  to 
their  faith  in  Christ.  On  the  left  hand  of  the  prefect,  and 
on  the  right  of  those  who  were  examined,  stood  a  small 
altar  surmounted  by  a  statue  of  Jupiter,  to  which  the 
Christians  were  required  to  sacrifice.  But  few  words  suf 
ficed  for  the  examination  of  such  as  were  brought  up. 
Upon  being  inquired  of  touching  their  faith,  there  was  no 
waiting  for  witnesses,  but,  as  soon  as  the  question  was  put 
the  arraigned  person  acknowledged  at  once  his  name  and 
religion.  He  was  then  required  to  sacrifice  and  renounce 
his  faith,  and  forthwith  he  should  be  dismissed  in  safety 
and  with  honour.  This  the  Christian  refusing  steadfastly 
to  do,  sentence  of  death  was  instantly  pronounced  against 
him,  and  he  was  remanded  to  the  prisons  to  await  the  time 
of  punishment. 

Probus  was  now  placed  before  the  prefect.  When  it  was 
seen  throughout  the  crowd  which  again  filled  the  house, 
who  it  was  that  was  arraigned  for  examination,  there  were 
visible  signs  of  satisfaction  all  around,  that  he  who  was  in 
a  manner  the  ringleader  of  the  sect  was  about  to  meet  with 
his  deserts.  As  the  eye  of  Varus  fell  upon  Probus,  and  he 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  365 

too  became  aware  who  it  was  that  stood  at  his  tribunal,  he 
bent  courteously  toward  him,  and  saluted  him  with  respect. 

"  Christian, "  said  he,  "  I  sincerely  grieve  to  see  thee  in 
such  a  pass.  Ever  since  I  met  thee  in  the  shop  of  the 
learned  Publius  have  I  conceived  an  esteem  for  thee,  and 
would  now  gladly  rescue  thee  from  the  danger  that  over 
hangs.  Bethink  thee,  now ;  thou  art  of  too  much  ac 
count  to  die  as  these  others.  A  better  fate  should  be 
thine ;  and  I  will  stand  thy  friend. " 

"  Were  what  thou  sayest  true, "  replied  Probus,  "  which 
I  am  slow  to  admit, —  for  nobler,  purer  souls  never  lived  on 
earth  than  have  but  now  left  this  spot  where  I  stand,  —  it 
would  but  be  a  reason  of  greater  force  to  me,  why  I  should 
lose  my  life  sooner  than  renounce  my  faith.  What  sacrifice 
can  be  too  holy  for  the  altar  of  the  God  whom  I  serve  ? 
Would  to  God  I  were  more  worthy  than  I  am  to  be 
offered  up !  " 

"  Verily, "  said  Varus,  "  you  are  a  wonderful  people. 
The  more  fitted  you  are  to  live  happily  to  yourselves  and 
honourably  to  others,  the  readier  you  are  to  die.  I  behold 
in  you,  Probus,  qualities  that  must  make  you  useful  here 
in  Home.  Eome  needs  such  as  thyself.  Say  but  the  word, 
and  thou  art  safe. " 

"  Could  I  in  truth,  Varus,  possess  the  qualities  thou  im- 
putest  to  me,  were  I  ready  on  the  moment  to  abandon  what 
I  have  so  long  professed  to  honour  and  believe,  —  abjuring, 
for  the  sake  of  a  few  years  more  of  life,  a  faith  which  I  have 
planted  in  so  many  other  hearts,  and  which  has  already 
brought  them  into  near  neighbourhood  with  a  cruel  death, 
—  couldst  thou  thyself  afterwards  think  of  me  but  as  of  a 
traitor  and  a  coward  ?  " 

"  I  never, "  said  Varus,  "  could  do  otherwise  than  esteem 
one  who,  however  late,  at  length  declared  himself  the 
friend  of  Eome ;  and  more  than  others  should  I  esteem  him 
who,  from  being  an  enemy,  became  a  friend.  Even  the 
emperor,  Probus,  desires  thy  safety.  It  is  at  his  instance 
that  I  press  thee.  " 

Probus  bent  his  head  and  remained  silent.     The  people, 


366  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

taking  it  as  a  sign  of  acquiescence,  cried  out,  many  of 
them,  "  See !  he  will  sacrifice !  " 

Varus,  too,  said.  "  It  needs  not  that  the  outward  sign 
be  made.  We  will  dispense  with  it.  The  inward  consent, 
Probus,  shall  suffice.  Soldiers  —  " 

"Hold,  hold,  Varus!"  cried  Probus,  rousing  himself 
from  his  momentary  forgetfulness.  "  Think  not,  O  prefect, 
so  meanly  of  me  !  What  have  I  said  or  done  to  induce  such 
belief  ?  I  was  but  oppressed  for  a  moment  with  grief  and 
shame  that  I  should  be  chosen  out  from  among  all  the 
Christians  in  Eome  as  one  whom  soft  words  and  bribes, 
and  the  hope  of  life,  could  seduce  from  Christ.  Cease, 
Varus,  then ;  these  words  are  vain.  Such  as  I  have  been, 
I  am,  and  shall  be  to  the  end,  —  a  Christian !  " 

"  To  the  rack  with  the  Christian,  then !  "  shouted  many 
voices  from  the  crowd. 

Varus  enforced  silence. 

"  Probus, "  said  he,  as  order  was  restored,  "  I  shall  still 
hope  the  best  for  thee.  Thou  art  of  different  stuff  from 
him  whom  we  first  had  before  us,  and  leisure  for  reflec 
tion  may  bring  thee  to  another  mind.  I  shall  not,  there 
fore,  condemn  thee  either  to  the  rack  or  to  death.  Soldiers, 
bear  him  to  the  prisons  at  the  Fabrician  bridge. " 

Whereupon  he  was  led  from  the  tribunal,  and  conducted 
by  a  guard  to  the  place  of  his  confinement. 

The  fate  of  Probus  we  now  regard  as  sealed.  In  what 
manner  he  will  finally  be  disposed  of,  it  is  in  vain  to  con 
jecture,  so  various  are  the  ways,  each  one  more  ingenious 
in  cruelty  than  another,  in  which  Christians  are  made  to 
surfer  and  die.  Standing,  as  he  does,  as  virtually  the  head 
of  the  Christian  community,  we  can  anticipate  for  him  a 
death  only  of  more  refined  barbarity. 

Felix,  too,  we  learn,  is  confined  in  the  same  prison,  and 
with  him  all  the  other  principal  Christians  of  Rome. 

We  have  visited  Probus  in  his  confinement.  You  do  not 
remember,  Fausta,  probably  you  never  saw,  the  prison  at 
the  Fabrician  bridge.  It  seems  a  city  itself,  so  vast  is  it, 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  367 

and  of  so  many  parts,  running  upwards  in  walls  and  towers 
to  a  dizzy  height,  and  downwards  to  unknown  depths, 
where  it  spreads  out  in  dungeons  never  visited  by  the  light 
of  day.  In  this  prison,  now  crowded  with  the  Christians, 
did  we  seek  our  friend.  We  were  at  once,  upon  making 
known  our  want,  shown  to  the  cell  in  which  he  was 
confined. 

We  found  him,  as  we  entered,  seated,  and  bending  over 
a  volume  which  he  was  reading,  aided  by  the  faint  light 
afforded  by  a  lamp  which  his  jailer  had  furnished  him 
with.  He  received  us  with  cheerfulness,  and  at  his  side, 
on  the  single  block  of  stone  which  the  cell  provided  for  its 
inmates,  we  sat  and  long  conversed.  I  expressed  my  aston 
ishment  that  the  favour  of  a  lamp  had  been  allowed  him. 
"  It  is  not  in  accordance, "  I  said,  "  with  the  usages  of  this 
place. " 

"  You  will  be  still  more  amazed, "  he  replied,  "  when  I 
tell  you  through  whose  agency  I  enjoy  it. " 

"  You  must  inform  us, "  we  said,  "  for  we  cannot  guess. " 

"Isaac's,"  he  replied.  "At  least,  I  can  think  of  no 
other  to  whom  the  description  given  me  by  the  jailer  cor 
responds.  He  told  me,  upon  bringing  it  to  me,  that  a 
kind-hearted  old  man,  a  Jew,  as  he  believed  him,  had 
made  inquiry  about  me,  and  had  entreated  earnestly  for 
all  such  privileges  and  favours  as  the  customs  of  the  place 
allow.  He  has  even  procured  me  the  blessing  of  this 
friendly  light,  and  what  is  more  yet,  and  which  fills  me 
with  astonishment,  has  sent  me  this  volume,  which  is  the 
true  light.  Can  it  be  that  Isaac  has  done  all  this,  who 
surely  never  has  seemed  to  regard  me  with  much  favour  ?  " 

"  Never  doubt  that  it  is  he, "  said  Julia :  "  he  has  two 
natures ;  sometimes  one  is  seen,  sometimes  the  other,  —  his 
Jew  nature,  and  his  human  nature.  His  human  heart  is 
soft  as  a  woman's  or  a  child's.  One  so  full  of  the  spirit 
of  universal  love  I  have  never  known.  At  times,  in  his 
speech,  you  would  think  him  a  man  bloody  and  severe  as 
Aurelian  himself,  but  in  his  deeds  he  is  almost  more  than 
a  Christian. " 


368  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  As  the  true  circumcision, "  said  Probus,  "  is  that  of  the 
heart,  and  as  he  is  a  Jew  who  is  one  inwardly,  so  is  he 
only  a  Christian  who  does  the  deeds  of  one  and  has  the 
heart  of  one.  And  he  who  does  those  deeds,  and  has  that 
heart,  what  matters  it  by  what  name  he  is  called  ?  Isaac 
is  a  Christian,  in  the  only  important  sense  of  the  word, 
and,  alas !  that  it  should  be  so,  more  than  many  a  one  who 
bears  the  name.  But  does  this  make  Christ  to  be  of  none 
effect  ?  Not  so.  The  natural  light,  which  lightens  every 
man  who  cometh  into  the  world,  will  here  and  there,  in 
every  place  and  in  every  age,  bring  forth  those  who  shall 
show  themselves,  in  the  perfection  of  their  virtues,  to  be  of 
the  very  lineage  of  heaven, —  true  heirs  of  its  glory.  Isaac 
is  such  a  one.  But  what  then  ?  For  one  such  made  by 
the  light  of  nature,  the  gospel  gives  us  thousands.  But 
how  is  it,  Piso,  in  the  city  ?  Are  the  wolves  still  abroad  ?  " 

"  They  are.  The  people  have  themselves  turned  inform 
ers,  soldiers,  and  almost  executioners.  However  large  may 
be  the  proportion  of  the  friendly  or  the  neutral  in  the  city, 
they  dare  not  show  themselves.  The  mob  of  those  devoted 
to  Aurelian  constitutes  now  the  true  sovereign  of  Eome ; 
the  streets  are  theirs,  the  courts  are  theirs,  and  anon 
the  games  will  be  theirs.  " 

"  I  am  given  to  understand, "  said  Probus,  "  that  to 
morrow  I  suffer ;  yet  have  I  received  from  the  prefect  no 
warning  to  that  effect.  It  is  the  judgment  of  my  keeper.  " 

"  I  have  heard  the  same, "  I  answered,  *  but  I  know  not 
with  what  truth. " 

"  It  can  matter  little  to  me, "  he  replied,  "  when  the 
hour  shall  come,  whether  to-morrow  or  to-night. " 

"  It  cannot, "  said  Julia.  "  Furnished  with  the  whole 
armour  of  the  gospel,  it  will  be  an  easy  thing  for  you  to 
encounter  death. " 

"  It  will,  lady,  believe  me.  I  have  many  times  fought 
with  enemies  of  a  more  fearful  front.  The  enemies  of  the 
soul  are  those  whom  the  Christian  most  dreads.  Death 
is  but  the  foe  of  life.  So  the  Christian  may  but  live  to 
virtue  and  God,  he  can  easily  make  his  account  with 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  369 

death.  It  is  not  the  pain  of  dying,  nor  the  manner  of  it, 
nor  any  doubts  or  speculations  about  the  life  to  come, 
which,  at  an  hour  like  this,  intrude  upon  the  Christian's 
thoughts. " 

"  And  what,  then, "  asked  Julia,  as  Probus  paused  and 
fell  back  into  himself,  "  is  it  that  fills  and  agitates  the 
mind  ?  —  for  at  such  a  moment  it  can  scarcely  possess  itself 
in  perfect  peace. " 

"It  is  this,"  replied  Probus;  "am  I  worthy?  have  I 
wrought  well  my  appointed  task  ?  have  I  kept  the  faith  ? 
and  is  God  my  friend,  and  Jesus  my  Saviour  ?  These  are 
the  thoughts  that  engross  and  fill  the  mind.  It  is  busy 
with  the  past,  and  with  itself.  It  has  no  thoughts  to  spare 
upon  suffering  and  death ;  it  has  no  doubts  or  fears  to  re 
move  concerning  immortality.  The  future  life  to  me 
stands  out  in  the  same  certainty  as  the  present.  Death  is 
but  the  moment  which  connects  the  two.  You  say  well 
that  at  such  an  hour  as  this  the  mind  can  scarce  possess 
itself  in  perfect  peace.  Yet  is  it  agitated  by  nothing  that 
resembles  fear.  It  is  the  agitation  that  must  necessarily 
have  place  in  the  mind  of  one  to  whom  a  great  trust  has 
been  committed  for  a  long  series  of  years,  at  that  moment 
when  he  comes  to  surrender  it  up  to  him  from  whom  it  was 
received.  I  have  lived  many  years.  Ten  thousand  oppor 
tunities  of  doing  good  to  myself  and  others  have  been  set 
before  me.  The  world  has  been  a  wide  field  of  action  and 
labour,  where  I  have  been  required  to  sow  and  till  against 
the  future  harvest.  Must  I  not  experience  solicitude  about 
the  acts  and  the  thoughts  of  so  long  a  career  ?  I  may  often 
have  erred ;  I  must  often  have  stood  idly  by  the  wayside ; 
I  must  many  times  have  been  neglectful  and  forgetful,  and 
wilful ;  I  must  often  have  sinned ;  and  it  is  not  all  the  ex 
pected  glory  of  another  life,  nor  all  the  honour  of  dying  in 
the  cause  of  Christ,  nor  all  the  triumph  of  a  martyr's  fate, 
that  can  or  ought  to  stifle  and  overlay  such  thoughts.  Still 
I  am  happy,  —  happy,  not  because  I  am  in  my  own  view 
worthy  or  perfect,  but  because  through  Jesus  Christ  I  am 
taught,  in  God,  to  see  a  Father.  I  know  that  in  him  I 

24 


370  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

shall  find  both  a  just  and  a  merciful  Judge ;  'and  in  him, 
who  was  tempted  even  as  we  are,  who  was  of  our  nature, 
and  exposed  to  our  trials,  shall  I  find  an  advocate  and  inter 
cessor  such  as  the  soul  needs.  So  that,  if  anxious  as  he 
who  is  human  and  fallible  must  ever  be,  I  am,  nevertheless, 
happy  and  contented.  My  voyage  is  ended ;  the  ocean  of 
life  is  passed ;  and  I  stand  by  the  shore,  with  joyful  expec 
tation  of  the  word  that  shall  bid  me  land,  and  enter  into 
the  haven  of  my  rest. " 

As  Probus  ended  these  words  a  low  and  deep  murmur, 
or  distant  rumbling  as  of  thunder,  caught  our  ears,  which, 
as  we  listened,  suddenly  increased  to  a  terrific  roar  of  lions, 
as  it  were  directly  under  our  feet.  We  instinctively  sprang 
from  where  we  sat,  but  were  quieted  at  once  by  Probus. 

"  There  is  no  danger, "  said  he ;  "  they  are  not  within  our 
apartment,  nor  very  near  us.  They  are  a  company  of 
Koine's  executioners,  kept  in  subterranean  dungeons,  and 
fed  with  prisoners  whom  her  mercy  consigns  to  them. 
Sounds  more  horrid  yet  have  met  my  ears,  and  may  yours. 
Yet  I  hope  not.  " 

But  while  he  yet  spoke,  the  distant  shrieks  of  those  who 
were  thrust  toward  the  den,  into  which,  from  a  high  ledge, 
they  were  to  be  flung  headlong,  were  borne  to  us,  accom 
panied  by  the  oaths  and  lashes  of  such  as  drove  them,  but 
which  were  immediately  drowned  by  the  louder  roaring  of 
the  imprisoned  beasts,  as  they  fell  upon  and  fought  for 
their  prey.  We  sat  mute,  and  trembling  with  horror,  till 
those  sounds  at  length  ceased  to  reverberate  through  the 
aisles  and  arches  of  the  building. 

"  Oh,  Eome !  "  cried  Probus  when  they  had  died  away, 
"  how  art  thou  drunk  with  blood !  Crazed  by  ambition, 
drunk  with  blood,  drowned  in  sin,  hardened  as  a  millstone 
against  all  who  come  to  thee  for  good,  how  shalt  thou  be 
redeemed  ?  where  is  the  power  to  save  thee  ? " 

"  It  is  in  thee !  "  said  Julia.  "  It  is  thy  blood,  Probus, 
and  that  of  these  multitudes  who  suffer  with  thee,  that 
shall  have  power  to  redeem  Rome  and  the  world.  The 
blood  of  Jesus,  first  shed,  startled  the  world  in  its  slumbers 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  371 

of  sin  and  death.  Thine  is  needed  now  to  sound  another 
alarm,  and  rouse  it  yet  once  more.  And  even  again  and 
again  may  the  same  sacrifice  be  to  he  offered  up. " 

"  True,  lady, "  said  Probus ;  "  it  is  so.  And  it  is  of  that 
I  should  think.  Those  for  whom  I  die  should  fill  my 
thoughts,  rather  than  any  concern  for  my  own  happiness. 
If  I  might  but  be  the  instrument,  by  my  death,  of  opening 
the  eyes  of  this  great  people  to  their  errors  and  their  guilt, 
I  should  meet  death  with  gratitude  and  joy.  " 

With  this,  and  such  like  conversation,  Fausta,  did  we 
fill  up  a  long  interview  with  Probus.  As  we  rose  from  our 
seats  to  take  leave  of  him,  not  doubting  that  we  then  saw 
him  and  spoke  to  him  for  the  last  time,  he  yielded  to  the 
force  of  nature,  and  wept.  But  this  was  but  for  a  moment. 
Quickly  restored  to  himself  —  if,  indeed,  when  shedding 
those  tears  he  were  not  more  truly  himself  —  he  bade 
us  farewell,  saying,  with  firmness  and  cheerfulness,  as  he 
did  so, — 

"  Notwithstanding,  Piso,  the  darkness  of  this  hour  and 
of  all  the  outward  prospect,  it  is  bright  within.  Farewell ! 
—  to  meet,  as  I  trust,  in  heaven.  " 

We  returned  to  the  Ccelian. 

When  I  parted  from  Probus  at  the  close  of  this  inter 
view  it  was  in  the  belief  that  I  should  never  see  him  more. 
But  I  was  once  again  in  his  dungeon,  and  then  heard  from 
him  what  I  ^will  now  repeat  to  you.  It  was  thus  :  — 

Not  long  after  we  had  withdrawn  from  his  cell,  on  our 
first  visit,  Probus,  as  was  his  wont  when  alone,  sat  reading 
by  that  dim  and  imperfect  light  which  the  jailer  had  pro 
vided  him.  He  presently  closed  the  volume,  and  laid  it 
away.  While  he  then  sat  musing,  and  thinking  of  the 
morrow,  and  of  the  fate  which  then  probably  awaited  him, 
the  door  of  his  cell  slowly  opened.  He  looked,  expecting 
to  see  his  usual  visitant  the  jailer,  but  it  was  a  form  very 
different  from  his.  The  door  closed,  and  the  figure  ad 
vanced  to  where  Probus  sat.  The  gown  in  which  it  was 
enveloped  was  then  let  fall,  and  the  prefect  stood  before 
the  Christian. 


372  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  Varus  !  "  said  Probus.     "  Do  I  see  aright  ?  " 

"  It  is  Varus, "  replied  the  prefect,  —  "  and  your  friend.  " 

"  I  would  now,  at  least,  be  at  friendship  with  all  the 
world,"  responded  Probus. 

"  Yet, "  said  Varus,  "  your  friends  must  be  few,  that  you 
should  be  left  in  this  place  of  horror  alone  to  meet  your 
fate.  " 

"  I  have  no  friend  powerful  enough,  on  earth  at  least,  to 
cope  with  the  omnipotence  of  Aurelian, "  replied  Probus. 
"  I  am  an  infant  in  the  grasp  of  a  giant. " 

"  Thy  friends,  Christian,  are  more,  and  more  potent,  than 
thou  dreamest  of.  As  I  said  to  thee  before,  even  Aurelian 
esteems  thee. " 

"  Strange  that  if  he  esteems  me,  as  thou  sayest,  he  should 
thrust  me  within  the  lions'  den,  with  prospect  of  no  escape 
but  into  their  jaws.  And  can  I  suppose  that  his  esteem  is 
worth  much  to  me,  who  crowds  his  prisons  with  those  who 
are  nearest  to  me,  reserving  them  there  for  a  death  the  most 
cruel  and  abhorred  ?  " 

"  He  may  esteem  thee,  Probus,  and  not  thy  faith.  'T  is 
so  with  me.  I  like  not  thy  faith,  but  truly  do  I  say  it,  I 
like  thee,  and  would  fain  serve  and  save  thee.  Nay,  't  is 
thy  firmness  and  thy  zeal  in  the  cause  thou  hast  espoused 
that  win  me.  I  honour  those  virtues.  But,  Probus,  in 
thee  they  are  dangerous  ones.  The  same  qualities  in  a 
worthier  cause  would  make  thee  great.  That  which  thou 
hast  linked  thyself  to,  Christian,  is  a  downward"  and  a  dying 
one.  Its  doom  is  sealed.  The  word  of  Aurelian  has  gone 
forth,  and  before  the  ides,  the  blood  of  every  Christian  in 
Eome  shall  flow;  and  not  in  Eome  only,  but  throughout 
the  empire.  The  forces  are  now  disposing  over  the  whole 
of  this  vast  realm,  which,  at  a  sign  from  the  great  head, 
shall  fall  upon  this  miserable  people,  and  their  very  name 
shall  vanish  from  the  earth.  It  is  vain  to  contend.  It  is 
but  the  struggling  of  a  man  with  the  will  and  the  arm  of 
Jove. " 

"  Varus ! "  Probus  began. 

"Nay/   said  the  prefect,   "listen  first.     This  faith  of 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  373 

thine,  Christian,  which  can  thus  easily  be  destroyed,  can 
not  be  that  divine  and  holy  thing  thou  deemest  it.  So 
judges  Porphyrus,  and  all  of  highest  mark  here  in  Eome. 
It  is  not  to  be  thought  of  one  moment  as  possible  that  what 
a  God  made  known  to  man  for  truth,  he  should  afterwards 
leave  defenceless,  to  be  trodden  to  the  dust,  and  its  minis 
ters  and  disciples  persecuted,  tormented,  and  exterminated 
by  human  force.  Christian,  thou  hast  been  deceived ; 
and  all  thy  fellows  are  in  the  like  delusion.  Do  thou, 
then,  save  both  thyself  and  them.  It  is  in  thy  power  to 
stop  all  this  effusion  of  blood,  and  restore  unity  and  peace 
to  an  empire  now  torn  and  bleeding  in  every  part. " 

"  And  how,  Varus,  —  seeing  thou  wouldst  that  I  should 
hear  all,  —  how  shall  it  be  done  ?  " 

"  Embrace,  Probus,  the  faith  of  Eome, —  the  faith  of  thy 
father,  venerable  for  piety  as  for  years,  the  faith  of  cen 
turies,  and  of  millions  of  our  great  progenitors, —  and  thou 
art  safe,  and  all  thine  are  safe.  " 

Probus  was  silent. 

"  Aurelian  bids  me  say, "  continued  the  prefect,  "  that, 
doing  this,  there  is  not  a  wish  of  thy  heart,  for  thyself,  or 
for  those  who  are  dear  to  thee,  but  it  shall  be  granted. 
Wealth  more  than  miser  ever  craved,  office  and  place  lower 
but  little  than  Aurelian 's  own,  shall  be  thine —  " 

"  Varus !  if  there  is  within  thee  the  least  touch  of  hu 
manity,  cease !  Thy  words  have  sunk  into  these  dead  walls 
as  far  as  into  me ;  yet  have  they  entered  far  enough  to  have 
wounded  the  soul  through  and  through.  Not,  Varus, 
though  to  all  thou  hast  said  and  promised  thou  shouldst 
add  Eome  itself  and  the  empire,  and  still  to  that  the  sub 
ject  kingdoms  of  the  East  and  West,  with  their  treasures, 
and  the  world  itself,  would  I  prove  false  to  myself,  my  faith, 
and  my  God.  Nor  canst  thou  think  me  base  enough  for 
such  a  deed.  This  is  no  great  virtue  in  me,  Varus.  I 
hold  it  not  such ;  nor  may  you.  Go  through  the  secret 
chambers  of  these  prisons,  with  the  same  rich  bribe  upon 
thy  tongue,  and  not  one  so  fallen  wouldst  thou  find  that 
he  would  hear  thee  through  as  I  have  done.  Varus,  thou 


374  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

knowest  not  what  a  Christian  is  !  Thou  canst  not  conceive 
how  little  a  thing  life  is  in  his  regard,  set  by  the  side  of 
truth.  I  grieve  that  ever  I  should  have  been  so  esteemed 
by  thee  as  to  warrant  the  proffers  thou  hast  made.  This 
injures  more  and  deeper  than  these  bonds,  or  than  all  thine 
array  of  engines  or  of  beasts. " 

"  Be  not  the  fool  and  madman, "  said  the  prefect,  "  to  cast 
away  from  thee  the  mercy  I  have  brought.  Except  on  the 
terms  I  have  now  named,  I  say  there  is  hope  neither  for 
thee  nor  for  one  of  this  faith  in  Home,  however  high  his 
name  or  rank. " 

"  That  can  make  no  change  in  my  resolve,  Varus. " 

"  Consider,  Probus,  well.  As  by  thy  renunciation  thou 
couldst  save  thyself,  I  now  tell  thee  that  the  lives  of  those 
whom  thou  boldest  nearest  hang  also  upon  thy  word.  As 
sent  to  what  I  have  offered,  and  Piso  and  Julia  live !  Re 
ject  it,  and  they  die  ! " 

Varus  paused ;  but  Probus  spoke  not.     He  went  on. 

"  Christian,  are  not  these  dear  to  thee  ?  Demetrius,  too, 
and  Felix  ?  Where  are  the  mercies  of  thy  boasted  faith,  if 
thy  heart  is  left  thus  hard  ?  Truly  thou  mightest  as  well 
have  lived  and  died  a  pagan. " 

"  Again  I  say,  Varus,  thou  knowest  not  what  a  Christian 
is.  We  put  truth  before  life ;  and  if  by  but  a  word  that 
should  deny  the  truth  in  Christ,  or  in  any  jot  or  tittle  of  it, 
I  could  save  the  life  of  Piso,  Julia,  Felix,  Demetrius,  nay, 
and  all  in  Eome  who  hold  this  faith,  my  tongue  should  be 
torn  from  my  mouth  before  that  word  should  be  spoken. 
And  so  wouldst  thou  find  every  Christian  here  in  Eome. 
Why,  then,  urge  me  more  ?  Did  Macer  hear  thee  ?  " 

"  I  hold  thee,  Probus,  a  wiser  man  than  he.  All  Rome 
knew  him  mad.  Cast  not  away  thy  life.  Live,  and  to 
morrow's  sun  shall  see  thee  first  in  Rome!" 

"  Varus !  why  is  this  urgency  ?  Think  me  not  a  fool, 
and  blind.  Thou  knowest,  and  Fronto  and  Aurelian  know, 
that  one  apostate  would  weigh  more  for  your  bad  cause 
than  a  thousand  headless  trunks ;  and  so,  with  cruel  and 
insulting  craft,  you  weave  your  snares  and  pile  to  heaven 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  375 

your  golden  bribes.  Begone,  Varus,  and  say  to  Aurelian, 
if  in  truth  he  sent  thee  on  thy  shameful  errand,  that  in  the 
Fabrician  prison,  in  the  same  dungeon  where  he  cast  Pro- 
bus  the  Christian,  there  still  lives  Probus  the  Eoman,  who 
reveres  what  Tie  once  revered  and  loved, —  truth  ;  and  whom 
his  bribes  cannot  turn  from  his  integrity.  " 

"  Die,  then,  idiot,  in  thy  integrity !  Thou  hast  thrown 
scorn  upon  one  who  has  power  and  the  will  to  pay  it  back 
in  a  coin  it  may  little  please  thee  to  take  it  in.  If  there 
be  one  torment,  Galilean,  sharper  than  another,  it  shall  be 
thine  to-morrow ;  and  for  one  moment  that  Macer  passed 
upon  my  irons,  there  shall  be  hours  for  thee.  Not  till  the 
Hesh  be  peeled  inch  by  inch  from  thy  bones,  and  thy  vitals 
look  through  thy  ribs,  and  thy  brain  boil  in  its  hot  case, 
and  each  particular  nerve  be  stretched  till  it  break,  shall  thy 
life  be  suffered  to  depart.  Then,  what  the  tormentors  shall 
have  left,  the  dogs  of  the  streets  shall  devour.  Now, 
Christian,  let  us  see  if  thy  God,  beholding  thy  distress, 
will  pity  and  deliver  thee. " 

Saying  these  words,  his  countenance  transformed  by  pas 
sion  to  that  of  a  demon,  he  turned  and  left  the  cell. 

Never,  Fausta,  I  feel  assured,  did  Aurelian  commission 
Varus  with  such  an  errand.  Fallen  though  he  be,  he  has 
not  yet  fallen  to  that  lowest  deep.  Varus  doubtless  hoped 
to  prevail  over  Probus  by  his  base  proposals,  and  by  such 
triumph  raise  his  fortunes  yet  higher  with  Aurelian.  It 
was  a  game  worth  playing, — so  he  judged,  and  perhaps 
wisely,  — and  worth  a  risk.  For  doubtless  one  apostate  of 
the  rank  of  Probus  would  have  been  of  more  avail  to  them, 
as  Probus  said  to  him,  than  a  thousand  slain.  For  nothing 
do  the  judges  so  weary  themselves,  and  exhaust  their 
powers  of  persuasion,  as  to  induce  the  Christians  who  are 
brought  before  them  to  renounce  their  faith.  So  desirous 
are  they  of  this  that  they  have  caused,  in  many  instances, 
those  who  were  no  Christians  to  be  presented  at  their  tribu 
nals,  who  have  then,  after  being  threatened  with  torture 
and  death,  renounced  a  faith  which  they  never  professed. 
Once  and  again  has  this  game  been  played  before  the  Eoman 


376  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

people.  Their  real  triumphs  of  this  sort  have  as  yet  been 
very  few ;  and  the  sensation  which  they  produced  was 
swallowed  up  and  lost  in  the  glory  —  in  the  eyes  even  of 
the  strangers  who  are  in  Borne  —  which  has  crowned  us  in 
the  steadfast  courage  with  which  our  people  have  remained 
quietly  in  their  homes,  throughout  all  this  dreadful  prepa 
ration  ;  and  then,  when  the  hour  of  trial  drew  nigh,  and 
they  were  placed  at  the  bar  of  the  judge,  and  were  accused 
of  their  religion,  confessed  the  charge,  boasted  in  it,  and 
then  took  their  way  to  the  prison,  from  which  they  well 
knew  death  only  would  deliver  them. 

That,  Fausta,  which  we  have  long  feared  and  looked  for, 
has  come  to  pass,  and  Probus,  our  more  than  friend,  our 
benefactor,  and  almost  our  parent,  is  by  the  emperor  con 
demned  to  death, —  not,  as  from  the  words  of  Varus  it  might 
be  supposed,  to  the  same  torments  as  those  to  which  Macer 
was  made  subject,  but  to  be  thrown  to  the  beasts  in  the 
Flavian,  a  death  more  merciful  than  that,  but  yet  full  of 
horror.  How  is  it  that  in  the  Roman  mercy  seems  dead, 
and  the  human  nature  which  he  received  from  the  gods, 
changed  to  that  of  the  most  savage  beast? 

Livia  has  been  with  us ;  and  here  with  us  would  she  now 
gladly  remain.  It  is  impossible,  she  says,  for  us  to  con 
ceive  the  height  of  the  frenzy  to  which  Aurelian  is  now 
wrought  up  against  the  Christians.  In  his  impatience,  he 
can  scarce  restrain  himself  from  setting  his  legions  in  the 
neighbouring  camp  at  once  to  the  work  of  slaughter.  But 
he  is,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  in  this  held  back  and  calmed 
by  the  more  bloody-minded,  but  yet  more  politic,  Fronto. 
Fronto  would  have  the  work  thoroughly  accomplished ;  and 
that  it  may  be  so,  he  adheres  to  a  certain  system  of  order 
and  apparent  moderation,  from  which  Aurelian  would 
willingly  break  away,  and  at  once  flood  the  streets  of  Rome 
in  a  new  deluge  of  blood.  Livia  is  now  miserable  and  sad, 
as  she  was  but  a  few  months  ago  gay  and  happy.  At  the 
palace,  she  tells  us,  she  hears  no  sounds  but  the  harsh  and 
grating  voice  of  Fronto,  or  the  smooth  and  silvery  tone.s 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  377 

of  Varus.  As  soon,  she  says,  as  Aurelian  shall  have  de 
parted  for  the  East,  shall  she  dwell  either  with  us,  or  fly  to 
the  quiet  retreat  of  Zenobia  at  Tibur. 

The  day  appointed  for  the  death  of  Probus  has  arrived, 
and  never  did  the  sun  shine  upon  a  fairer  one  in  Rome.  It 
seems  as  if  some  high  festival  were  come,  for  all  Rome  is 
afoot.  Heralds  parade  the  streets,  proclaiming  the  death  of 
Probus,  Felix,  and  other  Christians,  in  the  Flavian  at  the 
hour  of  noon.  At  the  corner  of  every  street,  and  at  all  the 
public  places,  the  words  "  Probus  the  Christian,  condemned 
to  the  beasts !  "  meet  the  eye.  Long  before  the  time  of  the 
sacrifice  had  come,  the  avenues  leading  to  the  theatre,  and 
all  the  neighbourhood  of  it,  were  crowded  with  the  excited 
thousands  of  those  who  desired  to  witness  the  spectacle. 
There  was  little  of  beauty,  wealth,  fashion,  or  nobility  in 
Koine  that  was  not  represented  in  the  dense  multitude  that 
filled  the  seats  of  the  boundless  amphitheatre.  Probus  had 
said  to  me,  at  my  last  interview  with  him,  "  Piso,  you  may 
think  it  a  weakness  in  me ;  but  I  would  that  one  at  least 
whose  faith  is  mine,  and  whose  heart  beats  as  mine,  might 
be  with  me  at  the  final  hour.  I  would,  at  that  hour,  meet 
one  eye  that  can  return  the  glance  of  friendship.  It  will 
be  a  source  of  strength  to  me,  and  I  know  not  how  much  I 
may  need.  "  I  readily  promised  what  he  asked,  though,  as 
you  may  believe,  Fausta,  I  would  willingly  have  been 
spared  the  trial.  So  that,  making  part  of  that  tide  pouring 
toward  the  centre,  I  found  myself  borne  along  at  the  ap 
pointed  hour  to  the  scene  of  suffering  and  death. 

As  I  was  about  to  pass  beneath  the  arched  way  which 
leads  to  the  winding  passages  within,  I  heard  myself  sa 
luted  by  a  well-known  voice,  and  turning  to  the  quarter 
whence  it  came,  beheld  Isaac,  but  without  his  pack,  and 
in  a  costume  so  different  from  that  which  he  usually  wears 
that  at  first  I  doubted  the  report  of  my  eyes.  But  the 
sound  of  his  voice,  as  he  again  addressed  me,  assured  me 
it  could  be  no  other  than  he. 

"  Did  I  not  tell  thee,  Piso, "  said  he,  "  that  when  the  Chris 
tian  was  in  his  straits,  there  thou  wouldst  see  the  Jew 


378  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

looking  on,  and  taking  his  sport  ?  This  is  for  Probus  the 
very  end  I  looked  for.  And  how  should  it  be  otherwise  ? 
Is  he  to  live  and  prosper  who  aims  at  the  life  of  that  to 
which  God  has  given  being  and  authority  ?  Shall  he  flour 
ish  in  pride  and  glory  who  hath  helped  to  pull  down  what 
God  built  up  ?  Not  so,  Piso.  'T  is  no  wonder  that  the 
Christians  are  now  in  this  plight.  It  could  be  no  other 
wise.  And  in  every  corner  of  this  huge  fabric  wilt  thou 
behold  some  of  my  tribe  looking  on  upon  this  sight,  or 
helping  at  the  sacrifice.  Yet  as  thou  knowest,  I  am  not 
among  them.  Is  there  no  hope  for  Probus,  Piso  ?  " 

"  None,  Isaac.     All  Rome  could  not  save  him.  " 

"Truly,"  rejoined  the  Jew,  "he  is  in  the  lions'  den. 
Yet  as  the  prophet  Daniel  was  delivered,  so  may  it  be  to 
him.  God  is  over  all.  " 

"  God  is  indeed  over  all, "  I  said ;  "  but  he  leaves  us  with 
our  natural  passions,  affections,  and  reason,  to  work  out 
our  own  way  through  the  world.  We  are  the  better  for  it.  " 

"  Doubtless, "  said  Isaac.  "  Yet  at  times,  when  we  look 
not  for  it,  and  from  a  quarter  we  dream  not  of,  deliverance 
comes.  So  was  it  to  Abraham,  when  he  thought  that  by 
his  own  hand  Isaac,  his  son,  must  be  slain.  But  why  to 
a  Christian  should  I  speak  of  these  ?  Dost  thou  witness 
the  sacrifice,  Piso  ? " 

"  Yes,  at  the  earnest  entreaty  of  Probus  himself. " 

"  I,  too,  shall  be  there.  We  shall  both  then  see  what 
shall  come  to  pass.  " 

So  saying,  he  moved  away  toward  the  lower  vaults,  and 
I  passed  on  and  ascended  the  flight  of  steps  leading  to  that 
part  of  the  interior  where  it  is  the  custom  of  Aurelian  to 
sit.  The  emperor  was  not  as  yet  arrived,  but  the  amphi 
theatre,  in  every  part  of  it,  was  already  filled  with  its 
countless  thousands.  All  were  seated,  idly  conversing, 
or  gazing  about  as  at  the  ordinary  sports  of  the  place. 
The  hum  of  so  many  voices  struck  the  ear  like  the  distant 
roar  of  the  ocean.  How  few  of  those  thousands  —  not  one, 
perhaps  —  knew  for  what  it  was  that  Probus  and  his  com 
panions  were  now  about  to  suffer  a  most  cruel  and  abhorred 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  379 

death !  They  knew  that  their  name  was  Christian,  and 
that  "  Christian  "  was  of  the  same  meaning  as  enemy  of  the 
gods  and  of  the  empire ;  but  what  it  was  which  made  the 
Christian  so  willing  to  die,  why  it  was  he  was  so  ready  to 
come  to  that  place  of  horror  and  give  up  his  body  to  the 
beasts  —  this  they  knew  not.  It  was  to  them  a  riddle  they 
could  not  read.  And  they  sat  and  looked  on  with  the  same 
vacant  unconcern,  or  with  the  same  expectation  of  pleasure, 
as  if  they  were  to  witness  the  destruction  of  murderers  and 
assassins.  This  would  not  hava  been  so  had  that  class  of 
the  citizens  of  Rome,  or  any  of  them,  been  present,  who, 
regarding  us  with  favour,  and  hoping  that  somewhat  may 
yet  come  of  our  religion  advantageous  to  the  world,  main 
tain  a  neutral  position.  These  were  not  there, — owing 
both  to  their  disinclination  to  witness  scenes  so  brutal 
izing,  and  to  apprehensions  lest  they  should  be  betrayed 
into  words  or  acts  of  sympathy  that  might  lead  to  their 
being  confounded  with  the  obnoxious  tribe,  and  exposed 
to  the  like  dangers.  All,  therefore,  within  the  embrace  of 
those  wide-spreading  walls,  were  of  one  heart  and  one 
mind. 

While  I  sat  waiting  the  coming  of  the  emperor,  and  sur 
rounded  by  those  whom  I  knew  not  nor  had  ever  seen,  one 
who  occupied  a  part  of  the  same  seat,  accompanied  by  his 
wife  and  daughters,  said  to  me,  — 

"  'Tis  to  be  hoped,  sir,  that  so  terrible  an  example  as 
this  will  have  its  effect  in  deterring  others  from  joining 
this  dangerous  superstition ;  and  not  only  that,  but  strike 
so  wholesome  a  terror  into  those  who  already  profess  it 
that  they  shall  at  once  abandon  it,  and  so  the  general  mas 
sacre  of  them  not  be  necessary,  which,  indeed,  I  should  be 
loath  to  witness  in  the  streets  of  Rome. " 

"  If  you  knew, "  I  replied,  "  for  what  it  is  these  people 
are  condemned  to  such  sufferings,  you  would  not,  I  am 
sure,  express  yourself  in  that  manner.  You  know,  I  may 
presume,  only  what  common  report  has  brought  to  your 
ears. " 

"  Nothing  else,  I  admit, "  he  replied.     "  My  affairs  con- 


380  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

fine  me  from  morning  till  night.  I  am  a  secretary,  sir,  in 
the  office  of  the  public  mint.  I  have  no  time  to  inform 
myself  of  the  exact  truth  of  anything  but  columns  of  fig 
ures.  I  am  not  afraid  to  say  there  is  not  a  better  account 
ant  within  the  walls  of  Eome.  But  as  for  other  things, 
especially  as  to  the  truth  in  matters  of  this  sort,  I  know 
nothing,  and  can  learn  nothing.  I  follow  on  as  the  world 
leads. " 

"  I  dare  say, "  I  replied,  "  you  have  spoken  the  truth  ;  and 
every  one  here  present,  were  he  to  speak,  would  make  very 
much  the  same  declaration.  So  here  are  eighty  thousand 
citizens  of  Eome  assembled  to  witness  the  destruction  of 
men  of  whose  crime  they  know  nothing,  yet  rejoicing  in  their 
death  as  if  they  were  murderers  or  robbers !  Were  you 
charged  with  a  false  enumeration  of  your  columns,  would 
not  you  hold  it  basest  injustice  to  suffer  punishment  before 
pains  were  taken  to  learn  the  exact  truth  in  the  case  ?  But 
are  you  not  acting  the  same  unjust  and  cruel  part,  with  all 
who  are  here,  in  looking  on  and  approving  the  destruction 
of  these  men,  about  whose  offence  you  know  nothing,  and 
have  taken  no  pains  to  inquire  ?  " 

"  By  the  gods !  "  exclaimed  his  wife,  who  seemed  the 
sharper  spirit  of  the  two,  "  I  believe  we  have  a  Christian 
here !  But  however  that  may  be,  we  should  be  prettily  set 
to  work,  whenever  some  entertainment  is  in  prospect,  to 
puzzle  ourselves  about  the  right  and  the  wrong  in  the  mat 
ter.  If  we  are  to  believe  you,  sir,  whenever  a  poor  wretch 
is  to  be  thrown  to  the  beasts,  before  we  can  be  in  at  the 
sport  we  must  settle  the  question  —  under  the  law,  I  sup 
pose  —  whether  the  condemnation  be  just  or  not !  Ha !  ha  ! 
Our  life  were  in  that  case  most  light  and  agreeable  !  The 
prefect  himself  would  not  have  before  him  a  more  engaging 
task.  Gods  !  Cornelia,  dear,  see  what  a  pair  of  eyes  !  " 

"Where,  mother?" 

"There, — in  that  old  man's  head.  They  burn  and 
twinkle  like  coals  of  fire.  I  should  think  he  must  be 
a  Christian. " 

I  was  not  sorry  that  a  new  object  had  attracted  the  at- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUST  A.  381 

tention  of  this  lady  of  the  secretary,  and  looking  where 
she  pointed,  I  saw  Isaac  planted  below  us  and  near  the 
arena.  At  the  same  moment  the  long  peal  of  trumpets, 
and  the  shouts  of  the  people  without,  gave  note  of  the  ap 
proach  and  entrance  of  the  emperor.  In  a  moment  more, 
with  his  swift  step,  he  entered  the  amphitheatre,  and  strode 
to  the  place  set  apart  for  him,  the  whole  multitude  rising 
and  saluting  him  with  a  burst  of  welcome  that  might  have 
been  heard  beyond  the  walls  of  Eome.  The  emperor  ac 
knowledged  the  salutation  by  rising  from  his  seat,  and  lift 
ing  the  crown  from  his  head.  He  was  instantly  seated 
again,  and  at  a  sign  from  him  the  herald  made  proclama 
tion  of  the  entertainments  which  were  to  follow.  He  who 
was  named  as  the  first  to  suffer  was  Probus. 

When  I  heard  his  name  pronounced,  with  the  punish 
ment  which  awaited  him,  my  resolution  to  remain  forsook 
me,  and  I  turned  to  rush  from  the  theatre.  But  my  recol 
lection  of  Probus 's  earnest  entreaties  that  I  would  be  there 
restrained  me,  and  I  returned  to  my  seat.  I  considered 
that  as  I  would  attend  the  dying  bed  of  a  friend,  so  I  was 
clearly  bound  to  remain  where  I  was,  and  wait  for  the  last 
moments  of  Probus ;  and  the  circumstance  that  his  death 
was  to  be  shocking  and  harrowing  to  the  friendly  heart 
was  not  enough  to  absolve  me  from  the  heavy  obligation. 
I  therefore  kept  my  place,  and  awaited  with  patience  the 
event. 

I  had  waited  not  long  when,  from  beneath  that  extremity 
of  the  theatre  where  I  was  sitting,  Probus  was  led  forth 
and  conducted  to  the  centre  of  the  arena,  where  was  a  short 
pillar  to  which  it  was  customary  to  bind  the  sufferers. 
Probus,  as  he  entered,  seemed  rather  like  one  who  came  to 
witness  what  was  there,  than  to  be  himself  the  victim,  so 
free  was  his  step,  so  erect  his  form.  In  his  face  there 
might,  indeed,  be  seen  an  expression  that  could  only  dwell 
on  the  countenance  of  one  whose  spirit  was  already  gone 
beyond  the  earth,  and  holding  converse  with  things  unseen. 
There  was  always  much  of  this  in  the  serene,  uplifted  face 
of  this  remarkable  man,  but  it  was  now  there  written  in 


382  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

lines  so  bold  and  deep,  that  there  could  have  been  few  in 
that  vast  assembly  but  must  have  been  impressed  by  it,  as 
never  before  by  aught  human.  It  must  have  been  this 
which  brought  so  deep  a  silence  upon  that  great  multitude, 
not  the  mere  fact  that  an  individual  was  about  to  be  torn 
by  lions ;  that  is  an  almost  daily  pastime.  For  it  was  so 
that,  when  he  first  made  his  appearance,  and,  as  he  moved 
toward  the  centre,  turned  and  looked  round  upon  the 
crowded  seats,  rising  to  the  heavens,  the  people  neither 
moved  nor  spoke,  but  kept  their  eyes  fastened  upon  him,  as 
by  some  spell  which  they  could  not  break. 

When  he  reached  the  pillar,  and  he  who  had  conducted 
him  was  about  to  bind  him  to  it,  it  was  plain,  by  what  at 
that  distance  we  could  observe,  that  Probus  was  entreating 
him  to  desist  and  leave  him  at  liberty ;  in  which  he  at 
length  succeeded,  for  that  person  returned,  leaving  him 
alone  and  unbound.  Oh,  sight  of  misery! — he  who  for 
the  humblest  there  present  would  have  performed  any  office 
of  love,  by  which  the  least  good  should  redound  to  them, 
left  alone  and  defenceless,  they  looking  on  and  scarcely 
pitying  his  cruel  fate !  When  now  he  had  stood  there  not 
many  minutes,  one  of  the  doors  of  the  vivaria  was  sud 
denly  thrown  back,  and  bounding  forth  with  a  roar  that 
seemed  to  shake  the  walls  of  the  theatre,  a  lion  of  huge 
dimensions  leaped  upon  the  arena.  Majesty  and  power 
were  inscribed  upon  his  lordly  limbs  ;  and  as  he  stood  there 
where  he  had  first  sprung,  and  looked  round  upon  the  mul 
titude,  how  did  his  gentle  eye  and  noble  carriage,  with 
which  no  one  for  a  moment  could  associate  meanness,  or 
cruelty,  or  revenge,  cast  shame  upon  the  human  monsters 
assembled  to  behold  a  solitary,  unarmed  man  torn  limb 
from  limb !  When  he  had  in  this  way  looked  upon  that 
cloud  of  faces,  he  then  turned  and  moved  round  the  arena 
through  its  whole  circumference,  still  looking  upwards 
upon  those  who  filled  the  seats, — not  till  he  had  come 
again  to  the  point  from  which  he  started  so  much  as  notic 
ing  him  who  stood,  his  victim,  in  the  midst.  Then,  as  if 
apparently  for  the  first  time  becoming  conscious  of  his  pres- 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA. 

ence,  he  caught  the  form  of  Probus ;  and  moving  slowly 
towards  him,  looked  steadfastly  upon  him,  receiving  in 
return  the  settled  gaze  of  the  Christian.  Standing  there 
still  a  while,  each  looking  upon  the  other,  he  then 
walked  round  him,  then  approached  nearer,  making  sud 
denly  and  for  a  moment  those  motions  which  indicate  the 
roused  appetite ;  but,  as  it  were  in  the  spirit  of  self-rebuke, 
he  immediately  retreated  a  few  paces,  and  lay  down  in  the 
sand,  stretching  out  his  head  towards  Probus,  and  closing 
his  eyes  as  if  for  sleep. 

The  people,  who  had  watched  in  silence,  and  with  the 
interest  of  those  who  wait  for  their  entertainment,  were 
both  amazed  and  vexed  at  what  now  appeared  to  be  the 
dulness  and  stupidity  of  the  beast.  When,  however,  he 
moved  not  from  his  place,  but  seemed  as  if  he  were  indeed 
about  to  fall  into  a  quiet  sleep,  those  who  occupied  the 
lower  seats  began  both  to  cry  out  to  him  and  shake  at  him 
their  caps,  and  toss  about  their  arms,  in  the  hope  to  rouse 
him.  But  it  was  all  in  vain ;  and  at  the  command  of  the 
emperor  he  was  driven  back  to  his  den. 

Again  a  door  of  the  vivaria  was  thrown  open,  and  an 
other  of  equal  size,  but  of  a  more  alert  and  rapid  step, 
broke  forth,  and,  as  if  delighted  with  his  sudden  liberty 
and  the  ample  range,  coursed  round  and  round  the  arena, 
wholly  regardless  both  of  the  people  and  of  Probus,  intent 
only,  as  it  seemed,  upon  his  own  amusement.  And  when 
at  length  he  discovered  Probus  standing  in  his  place,  it  was 
but  to  bound  toward  him  as  if  in  frolic,  and  then  wheel 
away  in  pursuit  of  a  pleasure  he  esteemed  more  highly  than 
the  satisfying  of  his  hunger.  At  this  the  people  were  not 
a  little  astonished,  and  many  who  were  near  me  hesitated 
not  to  say  that  there  might  be  some  design  of  the  gods 
in  this.  Others  said  plainly,  but  not  with  raised  voices, 
"  An  omen !  an  omen !  "  At  the  same  time  Isaac  turned 
and  looked  at  me  with  an  expression  of  countenance  which 
I  could  not  interpret.  Aurelian,  meanwhile,  exhibited 
many  signs  of  impatience;  and  when  it  was  evident  the 
animal  could  not  be  wrought  up,  either  by  the  cries  of  the 


384  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

people  or  of  the  keepers,  to  any  act  of  violence,  he  too  was 
taken  away.  But  when  a  third  had  been  let  loose,  and 
with  no  better  effect,  nay  with  less,  —  for  he,  when  he  had 
at  length  approached  Probus,  fawned  upon  him  and  laid 
himself  at  his  feet, —  the  people,  superstitious  as  you  know 
beyond  any  others,  now  cried  out  aloud,  "  An  omen !  an 
omen !  "  and  made  the  sign  that  Probus  should  be  spared 
and  removed.  Aurelian  himself  seemed  almost  of  the 
same  mind,  and  I  can  hardly  doubt  would  have  ordered 
him  to  be  released,  but  that  Fronto  at  that  moment  ap 
proached  him,  and  by  a  few  of  those  words  which,  coming 
from  him,  are  received  by  Aurelian  as  messages  from 
Heaven,  put  within  him  a  new  and  different  mind;  for 
rising  quickly  from  his  seat,  he  ordered  the  keeper  of  the 
vivaria  to  be  brought  before  him.  When  he  appeared  be 
low  upon  the  sands,  Aurelian  cried  out  to  him, — 

"  Why,  knave,  dost  thou  weary  out  our  patience  thus, 
—  letting  forth  beasts  already  over-fed  ?  Do  thus  again, 
and  thou  thyself  shalt  be  thrown  to  them.  Art  thou,  too, 
a  Christian  ?  " 

"  Great  emperor, "  replied  the  keeper,  "  than  those  I  have 
now  let  loose  there  are  not  larger  nor  fiercer  in  the  imperial 
dens,  and  since  the  sixth  hour  of  yesterday  they  have  tasted 
nor  food  nor  drink.  Why  they  have  thus  put  off  their  nature 
't  is  hard  to  guess,  unless  the  general  cry  be  taken  for  the 
truth,  —  that  the  gods  have  touched  them.  " 

Aurelian  was  again  seen  to  waver,  when  a  voice  from  the 
benches  cried  out,  — 

"  It  is,  0  emperor,  but  another  Christian  device !  Forget 
not  the  voice  from  the  temple !  The  Christians,  who  claim 
powers  over  demons,  bidding  them  go  and  come  at  pleasure, 
may  well  be  thought  capable  to  change,  by  the  magic  im 
puted  to  them,  the  nature  of  a  beast.  " 

"  I  doubt  not, "  said  the  emperor,  "  but  it  is  so.  Slave  ! 
throw  up  now  the  doors  of  all  thy  vaults,  and  let  us  see 
whether  both  lions  and  tigers  be  not  too  much  for  this  new 
necromancy.  If  it  be  the  gods  who  interpose,  they  can 
shut  the  mouth  of  thousands  as  of  one. " 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  385 

At  those  cruel  words  the  doors  of  the  vivaria  were  at 
once  flung  open,  and  a  hundred  of  their  fierce  tenants,  mad 
dened  both  by  hunger  and  the  goads  that  had  been  applied, 
rushed  forth,  and  in  the  fury  with  which,  in  a  single  mass, 
they  fell  upon  Probus  —  then  kneeling  upon  the  sands  — 
and  burying  him  beneath  them,  no  one  could  behold  his 
fate,  nor,  when  that  dark  troop  separated,  and  ran  howling 
about  the  arena  in  search  of  other  victims,  could  the  eye 
discover  the  least  vestige  of  that  holy  man.  I  then  fled 
from  the  theatre  as  one  who  flies  from  that  which  is  worse 
than  death. 

Felix  was  next  offered  up,  as  I  have  learned,  and  after 
him  more  than  fourscore  of  the  Christians  of  Eome. 

Eome  continues  the  same  scene  of  violence,  cruelty,  and 
blood.  Each  moment  are  the  miserable  Christians  dragged 
through  the  streets,  either  to  the  tribunals  of  the  judges, 
or  thence,  having  received  their  doom,  to  the  prisons. 

Seeing,  Fausta,  that  the  emperor  is  resolved  that  we  shall 
not  be  among  the  sufferers,  and  that  he  is  also  resolved 
upon  the  total  destruction  of  all  within  the  walls  of  Eome, 
from  which  purpose  no  human  power  can  now  divert  him, 
we  feel  ourselves  no  longer  bound  to  this  spot,  and  are  de 
termined  to  withdraw  from  it,  either  to  Tibur  or  else  to 
you.  Were  there  any  office  of  protection  or  humanity 
which  it  were  in  our  power  to  perform  toward  the  accused 
or  the  condemned,  you  may  believe  that  we  should  remain 
fixed  to  the  post  of  duty.  But  the  fearful  sweep  which  is 
making,  and  yet  to  be  made,  of  every  living  soul  in  Eome 
leaves  nothing  for  us  to  do  but  to  stand  idle  and  horror- 
struck  witnesses  of  sufferings  and  wrongs  which  we  can  do 
nothing  to  avert  or  relieve.  Portia  shares  our  sorrows, 
and  earnestly  entreats  us  to  depart,  consenting  herself  to 
accompany  us. 

After  seeing  Zenobia  at 'Tibur,  and  conversing  with  her 
and  Livia,  whom  I  found  there,  we  have  resolved  upon 
Palmyra;  and  already  have  I  engaged  a  vessel  bound  to 
Berytus.  A  brief  interval  will  alone  be  needful  for  our 
preparations.  Portia  goes  with  us. 

25 


386  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

In  the  midst  of  these  preparations,  news  is  brought  us 
by  Milo  that  Aurelian,  hastened  by  accounts  of  disturb 
ances  in  the  army,  has  suddenly  started  for  Thrace.  But 
I  see  not  that  this  can  interfere  with  our  movements,  un 
less,  indeed  —  What  can  mean  this  sudden  uproar  in  the 
streets,  —  and  now  within  the  house  itself  ?  My  fears  are 
come  true ! 

Fausta,  I  am  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  Fronto.  I  now 
write  in  chains,  and  Julia  stands  at  my  side  bound  also. 
I  have  obtained  with  difficulty  this  grace,  to  seal  my  letter, 
and  bid  you  farewell. 

Thus  were  Piso  and  Julia  at  length  in  the  grasp  of  the 
cruel  and  relentless  Fronto.  Aurelian 's  sudden  departure 
from  Rome  placed  the  whole  conduct  of  the  enterprise  he 
had  undertaken  in  the  hands  of  Varus  and  the  priest,  who 
were  left  by  the  emperor  with  full  powers  to  carry  on  and 
complete  the  work  which  he  had  begun.  It  was  his  pur 
pose,  however,  so  soon  as  the  difficulties  in  the  army  should 
be  composed,  himself  immediately  to  return,  and  remain 
till  the  task  were  ended,  —  the  great  duty  done.  But  as 
many  causes  might  conspire  to  prevent  this,  they  were 
clothed  with  sovereign  authority  to  do  all  that  the  welfare 
of  the  city,  and  the  defence  and  security  of  religion, 
might  require.  I  will  not  charge  Aurelian  with  an  unne 
cessary  absence  at  this  juncture,  that  so  he  might  turn  over 
to  his  tools  a  work  at  which  his  own  humanity  and  con 
science,  hardened  as  they  were,  revolted,  —  or  rather  that 
they,  voluntarily,  and  moved  only  by  their  own  supersti 
tious  and  malignant  minds,  might  then  be  free  to  do  what 
they  might  feel  safe  in  believing  would  be  an  acceptable 
service  to  their  great  master.  I  will  still  believe  that, 
had  he  intended  the  destruction  of  Piso  and  Julia,  he 
would,  with  that  courage  which  is  natural  to  him,  have 
fearlessly  and  unshrinkingly  done  the  deed  himself.  I 
will  rather  suppose  that  his  ministers,  without  warrant 
from  him,  and  prompted  by  their  own  hate  alone,  ventured 
upon  that  dark  attempt,  trusting,  when  it  should  have  once 


FROM  PISO  TO    FAUSTA.  387 

been  accomplished,  easily  to  obtain  the  pardon  of  him  who, 
however  he  might  affect  or  feel  displeasure  for  a  moment, 
would  secretly  applaud  and  thank  them  for  the  deed. 

However  this  may  be,  Aurelian  suddenly  departed  from 
Rome,  and  Fronto  and  Varus  filled  his  place ;  and  their 
first  act  of  authority  was  the  seizure  of  Piso  and  the  prin 
cess.  At  Tibur  we  knew  nothing  of  these  events  till  they 
were  past ;  we  caring  not  to  hear  of  the  daily  horrors  that 
were  acted  in  the  city,  and  feeling  as  secure  of  the  safety 
of  Piso  and  Julia  as  of  our  own. 

It  was  on  a  gloomy  winter  evening  when  they  were  borne 
away  from  their  home  upon  the  Coelian  to  the  dark  vaults 
beneath  the  Temple  of  the  Sun,  Pronto 's  own  province. 
But  here  again  let  Piso  speak  for  himself,  as  I  find  recorded 
in  the  fragment  of  a  letter. 

.  .  .  The  darkness  of  the  night  scarce  permitted  me  to 
see  (he  says)  whither  we  were  borne ;  but  when  the  guard 
stopped,  and  required  us  to  alight  from  the  carriage  in 
which  we  had  been  placed,  I  perceived  that  we  were  at  the 
steps  of  the  temple,  —  victims,  therefore,  in  his  own  regions, 
of  a  man  as  much  more  savage  than  Aurelian  as  he  than 
a  beast  of  the  forest.  We  were  denied  the  happiness  of 
being  confined  in  the  same  place,  but  were  thrust  into  sepa 
rate  dungeons,  divided  by  walls  of  solid  rock.  Here,  when 
wearied  out  by  watching,  I  fell  asleep.  How  long  this 
lasted  I  cannot  tell ;  I  was  awakened  by  the  withdrawing 
of  the  bolts  of  my  door.  One,  bearing  a  dim  light,  slowly 
opening  the  door  entered.  Forgetting  my  condition,  I 
essayed  to  rise,  but  my  heavy  chains  bound  me  to  the  floor. 
Soon  as  the  noise  of  my  motion  caught  the  ear  of  the  person 
who  had  entered,  he  said,— 

"  So,  —  all  is  safe.  I  am  not  thy  keeper,  sir  Piso,  but 
't  is  my  province  to  keep  the  keeper,  —  that  is,  visit  thee 
every  hour  to  see  that  thou  art  here.  Yet,  by  the  gods !  if 
you  Christians  have  that  power  of  magic  which  is  com 
monly  reported  of  you,  I  see  not  of  what  use  it  were  to 
watch  you  thus.  How  is  it  with  thee,  most  noble  Piso  ?  " 


388  LETTERS   FROM  ROME. 

"  That  is  of  little  moment ;  but  tell  me,  if  there  is  any 
thing  human  in  thee,  where  is  my  wife,  and  what  is  her 
fate  ?  " 

"  Be  not  too  much  concerned, "  he  replied.  "  She  is  safe, 
I  warrant  you.  None  but  Fronto  deals  with  her.  " 

"  Fronto !  "  I  could  only  say. 

"  Yes,  Fronto.  Fear  not,  he  is  an  honourable  man  and 
a  holy  priest. " 

"  Fronto ! "  I  was  about  to  add  more,  but  held  my 
peace ;  knowing  well  that  what  I  might  say  could  avail 
nothing  for  us,  and  might  be  turned  against  us.  I  only 
asked  why  there  was  such  delay  in  examining  and  con 
demning  us. 

"  That  is  a  question,  truly, "  he  replied ;  "  but  not  so 
easy  to  be  answered.  Few  know  the  reason  ;  that  I  can  say. 
But  what  is  there  in  the  heart  of  Fronto  that  is  kept  from 
Curio  ?  Are  thy  chains  easy,  Piso  ?  " 

"  I  would  that  they  might  be  lengthened.  Here  am  I 
bound  to  the  floor  without  so  much  as  the  power  to  stand 
upright.  This  is  useless  suffering.  " 

"  'T  was  so  ordered  by  Fronto ;  but  then,  if  there  is  one 
in  Eome  who  can  take  a  liberty  with  him,  I  know  well 
who  he  is.  So  hold  thou  the  lamp,  Piso,  and  I  will  ease 
thee ;  "  and,  like  one  accustomed  to  the  art,  he  soon  struck 
apart  the  chain,  and  again  uniting  it,  left  me  room  both 
to  stand  and  move. 

"  There,"  said  he,  as  he  took  again  the  lamp,  "  for  one 
who  hates  a  Christian  as  he  does  death,  that's  a  merciful 
deed.  But  I  can  tell  thee  one  thing,  that  it  will  not  ease 
thee  long. " 

"  That  I  can  believe.  But  why,  once  more,  is  there  this 
delay  ?  " 

"  I  know  not,  Piso,  whether  I  should  tell  thee ;  but  as  I 
doubt  not  Fronto  would,  were  he  here,  I  surely  may  do 
the  same ;  for  if  there  are  two  men  in  Eome,  Piso,  whose 
humours  are  the  same,  and  jump  together,  I  and  Fronto  are 
they.  There  is  a  dispute,  then,  noble  Piso,  between  Varus 
and  Fronto  about  the  lady  Julia ; "  and  without  heeding 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  389 

my  cries,  the  wretch  turned  and  left  the  vault,  closing  after 
him  the  heavy  door. 

How  many  days  in  the  torture  of  a  suspense  and  igno 
rance  worse  than  death  I  lay  here,  I  cannot  tell.  Curio 
came  as  often  as  he  said,  to  see  that  all  was  safe ;  but 
there  was  little  said  by  either;  he  would  examine  my 
chain,  and  then  depart.  On  the  night  —  the  last  night  I 
passed  in  that  agony  —  preceding  my  examination  by  Varus 
and  Fronto,  I  was  disturbed  from  my  slumbers  by  the  en 
trance  of  Curio.  He  advanced  with,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  an 
unusually  cautious  step,  and  I  rose,  expecting  some  com 
munication  of  an  uncommon  nature.  But  what  was  my 
amazement,  as  the  light  fell  upon  the  face  of  him  whq 
bore  it,  to  see  not  Curio,  but  Isaac.  His  finger  was  on  his 
lips,  while  in  his  hand  he  held  the  implements  necessary 
for  sawing  apart  my  chains. 

"  Piso, "  said  he,  in  a  whispered  tone,  "  thou  art  now  free. 
I  could  not  save  Probus,  but  I  can  save  thee.  Horses 
fleet  as  the  winds  await  thee  and  the  princess  beyond  the 
walls,  and  at  the  Tiber's  mouth  a  vessel  takes  you  to  Bery- 
tus.  Curio  lies  drunk  or  dead,  it  matters  little  which,  in 
a  neighbouring  vault. "  And  he  set  down  the  lamp,  and 
seized  my  chain.  The  strange  devotion  of  this  man  moved 
me ;  and  were  it  but  to  reward  his  love  I  could  almost  have 
slipped  my  bonds.  But  other  thoughts  prevailed. 

"  Isaac,  you  have  risked  your  life  and  that  of  your  house 
hold  in  this  attempt,  and  sorry  am  I  that  I  can  pay  thee 
only  with  my  thanks.  I  cannot  fly.  " 

"  Piso !  thou  surely  art  not  mad  ?  Why  shouldst  thou 
stay  in  the  hands  of  these  pagan  butchers  ?  " 

"  Were  this,  Isaac,  but  the  private  rage  of  Fronto,  gladly 
would  I  go  with  thee ;  more  gladly  would  I  give  Julia  to 
thy  care.  But  it  is  not  so!  It  is,  as  thou  knowest,  for 
our  faith  that  we  are  here  and  thus ;  and  shall  we  shrink 
from  what  Probus  bore  ?  " 

"  Piso,  believe  me ;  't  is  not  for  thy  faith  alone  that 
thou  art  here,  but  for  thy  riches,  and  thy  wife.  " 

"  Isaac !  thou  hast  been  deceived.      Sooner  would  they 


390  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

throw  themselves  into  a  lion's  den  for  sport  than  brave 
the  wrath  of  Aurelian  for  such  a  crime.  Thou  hast  been 
deceived. " 

"  I  have  it, "  replied  the  Jew,  "  from  the  mouth  of  the 
knave  Curio,  who  has  told  me  of  fierce  disputes,  overheard 
by  him,  between  Varus  and  Fronto  concerning  the  lady 
Julia. " 

"  Their  dispute  has  been,  doubtless,  whether  she  too 
should  be  destroyed ;  for  to  Fronto  is  well  known  the  con 
stant  love  which  Aurelian  still  bears  her.  Curio  is  not 
always  right. " 

"  And  is  this  my  answer,  Piso  ? "  said  Isaac.  "  And 
shall  I  not  still  see  thy  wife  ?  " 

"  No,  Isaac ;  it  would  be  of  no  avail.  Her  answer  would 
be  the  same  as  mine.  " 

"  Nevertheless,  Piso,  I  believe  that  what  I  have  heard 
and  surmised  is  so.  Fronto  and  Varus,  who  have  played 
with  the  great  Aurelian  as  a  toyman  with  his  images,  may 
carry  even  this. " 

"  Were  it  so,  I  put  my  trust  in  God,  and  to  him  com 
mend  myself  and  Julia.  For  this  our  faith  are  we  ready 
to  bear  all  that  man  can  devise  or  do. " 

Seeing  that  further  argument  was  vain,  Isaac,,  with  eyes 
that  overflowed  as  any  woman's,  embraced  me,  and  left  the 
cell. 

On  the  day  which  followed  the  visit  of  Isaac  was  I 
placed  before  Fronto  and  Varus. 

It  was  in  the  great  room  of  the  temple  that  the  prefect 
and  the  priest  awaited  their  victims.  It  was  dimly  illumi 
nated,  so  that  the  remoter  parts  were  lost  in  thick  dark 
ness.  So  far  as  the  eye  could  penetrate  it,  faces  could  be 
discerned  in  the  gloom,  of  those  who  were  there  to  witness 
the  scene.  All  whom  my  sight  could  separate  from  the 
darkness  were  of  the  Roman  priesthood,  or  friends  of 
Fronto.  Not  that  others  were  excluded,  —  it  was  broad 
day,  and  the  act  was  a  public  one  and  authorized  by  the 
imperial  edict,  — but  that  no  announcement  of  it  had  been 
made ;  and,  by  previous  concert,  the  place  had  been  filled 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  391 

with  the  priests  and  subordinate  ministers  of  the  Roman 
temples.  I  knew,  therefore,  that  not  a  friendly  eye  or  arm 
was  there.  Whatever  it  might  please  those  cruel  judges  to 
inflict  upon  myself  or  Julia,  there  was  none  to  remonstrate 
or  interpose.  With  what  emotions,  when  I  had  first  been 
placed  before  those  judges,  did  I  await  the  coming  of 
Julia,  from  whom  I  had  now  been  so  long  parted.  Fer 
vently  did  I  pray  that  the  mercy  of  Fronto  would  first 
doom  her,  that  she  might  be  sure  of  at  least  one  sympa 
thizing  and  pitying  heart. 

On  the  right  of  the  prefect,  upon  a  raised  platform,  were 
set  the  various  instruments  of  torture  and  death,  each  at 
tended  by  its  half -naked  minister. 

I  had  not  stood  long  when  upon  the  other  side  of  the 
room  the  noise  of  the  dividing  crowd  told  me  that  Julia 
was  entering,  and  in  a  moment  more  she  was  standing  at  a 
little  distance  from  me,  and  opposite  Fronto,  — I  being  op 
posite  the  prefect.  Our  eyes  met  once,  and  no  more.  As 
I  could  have  desired,  Fronto  first  addressed  her. 

"  Woman  !  thou  standest  here  charged  with  impiety  and 
denial  of  the  gods  of  Eome ;  in  other  words,  with  being  a 
follower  of  Christ  the  Nazarene.  That  the  charge  is  true, 

o  ' 

witnesses  stand  here  ready  to  affirm.  Dost  thou  deny  the 
charge  ?  Then  will  we  prove  its  truth.  " 

"  I  deny  it  not, "  responded  Julia,  "  but  confess  it.  Wit 
nesses  are  not  needed  ;  the  Christian  witnesses  for  himself.  " 

"  Dost  thou  know  the  penalty  that  waits  on  such 
confession  ? " 

"  I  know  it,  but  do  not  fear  it.  " 

"  But  for  thee  to  die  so,  woman,  is  of  ill  example  to  all 
in  Eome.  We  would  rather  change  thee.  We  would  not 
have  thee  die  the  enemy  of  the  gods,  of  Eome,  and  of  thy 
self.  I  ask  thee,  then,  to  renounce  thy  vain  impiety.  " 

Julia  answered  not. 

"  I  require  thee,  Christian,  to  renounce  Christ !  * 

Still  Julia  made  no  reply. 

"  Know  you  not,  woman,  I  have  power  to  force  from  thee 
that  which  thou  wilt  not  say  willingly  ?  ": 


392  LETTERS  FROM   ROME. 

"  Thou  hast  no  such  power,  priest.  Thou  wert  else  more 
than  God. " 

"  Thy  tender  frame  cannot  endure  the  torture  of  those 
engines.  It  were  better  spared  such  suffering. " 

"  I  would  gladly  be  spared  that  suffering,"  said  Julia; 
"  but  not  at  the  expense  of  truth. " 

"  Think  not  that  I  will  relent.  Those  irons  shall  rack 
and  rend  thee  in  every  bone  and  joint,  except  thou  dost 
renounce  that  foul  impostor  whose  curse  now  lies  heavy 
upon  Eome  and  the  world. " 

"  Weary  me  not,  priest,  with  vain  importunity.  I  am  a 
Christian,  and  a  Christian  will  I  die.  " 

"  Prepare  then  the  rack  !  "  cried  Fronto,  his  passions  ris 
ing  ;  "  that  is  the  medicine  for  obstinacy  such  as  this. 
Now  bind  her  to  it. " 

Hearing  that,  I  wildly  exclaimed,  — • 

"  Priest !  thou  darest  not  do  it  for  thy  life  !  Touch  but  the 
hair  of  her  head,  and  thy  life  shall  answer  it.  Aurelian's 
word  is  pledged,  and  thou  darest  not  break  it.  " 

"  Aurelian  is  far  enough  from  here, "  replied  the  priest. 
"  But  were  he  where  I  am,  thou  wouldst  see  the  same 
game.  I  am  Aurelian  now.  " 

"  Is  this,  then,  thy  commission  had  from  Aurelian  ?  " 

"  That  matters  not,  young  Piso.  'T  is  enough  for  thee  to 
know  that  Fronto  rules  in  Rome.  No  more,  —  hold  now 
thy  peace !  Where  an  empress  has  sued  in  vain,  there  is 
no  room  for  words  from  thee.  Slaves !  bind  her,  I  say ! 
To  the  rack  with  her !  " 

At  that  I  sprang  madly  forward,  thinking  only  of  her 
rescue  from  those  murderous  fangs,  but  was  at  the  same  in 
stant  drawn  violently  back,  both  by  my  chains  and  the 
arms  of  those  who  guarded  me.  The  tormentors  descended 
from  their  engines  to  fulfil  the  commands  of  Fronto ;  and 
laying  hold  of  Julia,  bore  her,  without  an  opposing  word, 
or  look,  or  motion,  toward  their  instruments  of  death. 
And  they  were  already  binding  her  limbs  to  the  accursed 
wheels,  while  Fronto  and  Varus  both  drew  nigh  to  gloat 
over  her  agonies,  when  a  distant  sound,  as  of  the  ocean 


FROM  PISO   TO  FAUSTA.  393 

lashed  by  winds,  broke  upon  the  ears  of  all  within  that 
hell.  Even  the  tormentors  paused  in  their  work,  and 
looked  at  each  other,  and  at  Fronto,  as  if  asking  what  it 
should  mean. 

The  silence  of  death  fell  upon  the  crowd ;  every  ear 
strained  to  catch  the  growing  sound,  and  interpret  it. 

"  'T  is  but  the  winter  wind !  "  cried  Fronto.  "  On, 
cowards,  with  your  work  !  " 

But  ere  the  words  had  left  his  lips,  or  those  demons 
could  wind  the  wheels  of  their  engine,  the  appalling  tu 
mult  of  a  multitude  rushing  toward  the  temple  became  too 
fearfully  distinct  for  even  Fronto  or  Varus  to  pretend  to 
doubt  its  meaning.  But  why  it  was,  or  for  what,  none 
could  guess ;  only  upon  the  terror-struck  forms  of  both  the 
prefect  and  the  priest  might  be  read  apprehensions  of  hos 
tility  that  from  some  quarter  was  aiming  at  themselves. 
Fronto 's  voice  was  again  heard:  — 

"  Bar  the  great  doors  of  the  temple  !  let  not  the  work  of 
the  gods  be  profanely  violated !  " 

But  the  words  were  too  late ;  for  while  he  was  yet  speak 
ing —  oh,  Fausta !  how  shall  I  paint  my  agony  of  joy?  — 
there  was  heard  from  the  street,  and  from  the  porch  of  the 
temple  itself,  the  shouts  of,  as  it  were,  ten  thousand  voices : 
"  Tacitus  is  emperor  !  "     "  Long  live  the  good  Tacitus  !  " 

Freedom  and  life  were  in  those  cries.  The  crowds  from 
the  streets  swept  in  at  the  doors  like  an  advancing  torrent. 
Varus  and  Fronto,  followed  by  their  myrmidons,  vanished 
through  secret  doors  in  the  walls  behind  them ;  and  among 
the  first  to  greet  me,  and  strike  the  chains  from  my  limbs, 
were  Isaac  and  Demetrius. 

"  And  where  is  the  lady  Julia  ?  "  cried  Isaac. 

"  There  !  " 

He  flew  to  the  platform,  and  turning  back  the  wheels, 
Julia  was  once  more  in  my  arms. 

"  And  now, "  I  cried,  "  what  means  it  all  ?  Am  I  awake, 
or  do  I  dream  ?  " 

"  You  are  awake, "  replied  Demetrius.  "  The  tyrant  is 
dead,  and  the  senate  and  people  all  cry  out  for  Tacitus !  " 


394  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

I  now  looked  about  me.  The  mob  of  priests  had  fled,  and 
around  me  I  beheld  a  thousand  well-known  faces  of  those 
who  already  had  been  released  from  their  dungeons.  Chris 
tians,  and  the  friends  of  Christians,  now  filled  the  temple. 

"  We  were  led  hither, "  continued  Demetrius,  "  by  your 
fast  friend,  and  the  friend,  I  believe,  of  all, —  Isaac.  None 
but  he,  and  those  to  whom  he  gave  the  tidings,  knew 
where  the  place  of  your  confinement  was ;  nor  was  the  day 
of  your  trial  publicly  proclaimed,  although  we  found  the 
temple  open.  But  for  him,  we  should  have  been,  I  fear, 
too  late.  But  no  sooner  was  the  news  of  Aurelian's  assas 
sination  spread  through  the  city  than  Isaac  roused  your 
friends  and  led  the  way. " 

As  Demetrius  ceased,  the  cry  of  "  Tacitus  Emperor !  " 
resounded  again  throughout  the  temple,  and  the  crowds 
then  making  for  the  streets,  about  which  they  careered  mad 
with  joy,  we  were  at  liberty  to  depart ;  and  accompanied 
by  Isaac  and  Demetrius,  were  soon  beneath  our  own  roof 
upon  the  Ccelian. 

With  what  joy  then,  in  our  accustomed  place  of  prayer, 
did  we  pour  forth  our  thanksgivings  to  the  overruling 
Providence,  who  had  not  only  rescued  ourselves  from  the 
very  jaws  of  death,  but  had  wrought  out  this  great  deliver 
ance  of  his  whole  people !  Never  before,  Fausta,  was 
Christianity  in  such  peril;  never  was  there  a  man,  who, 
like  Aurelian,  united  to  a  native  cruelty  that  could  behold 
the  shedding  of  blood  with  the  same  indifference  as  the 
flowing  of  water,  a  zeal  for  the  gods  and  a  love  of  country 
that  amounted  quite  to  a  superstitious  madness.  Had  not 
death  interposed, —  judging  as  man,  —  no  power  could  have 
stayed  that  arm  that  was  sweeping  us  from  the  face  of  the 
earth.  Our  certain  doom  was  annihilation. 

The  prisons  have  all  been  thrown  open,  and  their  multi 
tudes  again  returned  to  their  homes.  The  streets  and 
squares  of  the  capital  resound  with  the  joyful  acclamations 
of  the  people.  Our  churches  are  once  more  unbarred,  and 
with  the  voice  of  music  and  of  prayer  our  people  testify 
before  Heaven  their  gratitude  for  this  infinite  mercy. 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  395 

The  suddenness  of  this  transition,  from  utter  hopeless 
ness  and  blank  despair  to  this  fulness  of  peace  and  these 
transports  of  joy,  is  almost  too  much  for  the  frame  to  bear. 
Tears  and  smiles  are  upon  every  face.  We  know  not 
whether  to  weep  or  laugh ;  and  many,  as  if  their  reason 
were  gone,  both  laugh  and  cry,  utter  prayers  and  jests,  in 
the  same  breath. 

Soon  as  we  found  ourselves  quietly  in  possession  again  of 
our  own  home,  surrounded  by  our  own  household,  Portia 
sitting  with  us  and  sharing  our  felicity,  the  same  feeling 
impelled  us  at  once  to  seek  Livia  and  Zenobia.  The  em 
press  was,  as  we  had  already  learned,  at  Tibur,  whither  she 
had  but  this  morning  fled,  upon  finding  all  interference  of 
no  avail,  —  hoping,  but  how  vainly,  that  possibly  her 
mother,  than  whose  name  in  Rome  none  was  greater  save 
Aurelian's,  might  prevail  where  her  words  had  fallen  but 
upon  deaf  ears  and  stony  hearts.  Our  chariot  bore  us 
quickly  beyond  the  walls,  and  toward  the  palace  of  the 
queen.  And  as  we  reached  the  entrance,  Zenobia  at  the 
same  moment,  accompanied  by  Livia,  Nichomachus,  and 
her  usual  train,  was  mounting  her  horse  for  Rome.  Our 
meeting  I  need  not  describe.  That  day  and  evening  were 
consecrated  to  love  and  friendship ;  and  many  days  did  we 
pass  there  in  the  midst  of  satisfactions  of  double  worth,  I 
suppose,  from  the  brief  interval  which  separated  them  from 
the  agonies  which  but  so  lately  we  had  endured. 

All  that  we  have  as  yet  learned  of  Aurelian  is  this,  that 
he  has  met  the  fate  that  has  waited  upon  so  many  of  the 
masters  of  the  world.  His  own  soldiers  have  revenged 
themselves  upon  him.  Going  forth,  as  it  is  reported,  to 
quell  a  sudden  disturbance  in  the  camp,  he  was  set  upon 
by  a  band  of  desperate  men,  — made  so  by  threats  of  pun 
ishment,  which  he  ever  keeps, — -and  fell  pierced  by  a  hun 
dred  swords.  When  more  exact  accounts  arrive,  you  shall 
hear  again. 

Tacitus,  who  has  long  been  the  idol  of  the  senate  and 
of  the  best  part  of  the  people  of  Rome,  famed  as  you  know 
for  his  wisdom  and  his  mild  virtues,  distinguished,  too, 


396  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

for  his  immense  wealth  and  the  elegance  of  his  tastes,  was 
at  once,  on  the  news  of  Aurelian's  death,  proclaimed  em 
peror,  —  not  so  much,  however,  by  any  formal  act  of  the 
senate,  as  by  the  unanimous  will  of  all,  senators  and 
people.  For  in  order  that  the  chance  of  peace  may  be  the 
greater,  the  senate,  before  any  formal  and  public  decree 
shall  be  passed,  will  wait  the  pleasure  of  the  army.  But 
in  the  mean  time,  he  is  as  truly  emperor  as  was  Aurelian, 
and  was  at  the  first  moment  the  news  of  the  assassination 
arrived.  His  opinions  concerning  the  Christians,  also, 
being  well  known,  the  proclamation  of  his  name  as  Augus 
tus  was  at  the  same  time  a  note  of  safety  and  deliverance 
to  our  whole  community.  No  name  in  Rome  could  have 
struck  such  terror  into  the  hearts  of  Varus  arid  Fronto,  as 
that  of  Tacitus,  —  "  Tacitus  Emperor !  " 

After  our  happy  sojourn  at  Tibur,  and  we  had  once  more 
regained  our  home  upon  the  Coelian,  we  were  not  long,  as 
you  may  believe,  in  seeking  the  street  Janus,  and  the  dwel 
ling  of  Isaac.  He  was  happily  within,  and  greeted  us  with 
heartiest  welcome. 

"  Welcome,  most  noble  Piso, "  he  cried,  "  to  the  street 
Janus ! " 

"  And, "  I  added,  "  to  the  house  of  a  poverty-pinched 
Jew  !  This  resembles  it  indeed  !  " 

"  Ah  !  are  you  there,  Piso  ?  Well,  well,  if  I  have  seemed 
poor,  thou  knowest  why  it  has  been,  and  for  what.  Wel 
come,  too,  princess !  enter,  I  pray  you,  and  when  you  shall 
be  seated,  I  shall  at  once  show  you  what  you  have  come  to 
see,  I  doubt  not,  —  my  assortment  of  diamonds.  Ah  !  the 
news  of  your  arrival  has  spread,  and  they  are  before  me ! 
Here,  Piso,  is  the  woman  of  the  desert  and  the  young  Ish- 
mael;  and  here,  lady,  are  two  dark-eyed  nymphs  of  Ecba- 
tana.  Children,  this  is  the  beautiful  Princess  of  Palmyra, 
whose  name  you  have  heard  more  than  once.  " 

It  was  a  pretty  little  circle,  Fausta,  as  the  eye  need 
behold,—  and  gathered  together  here  by  how  strange  circum 
stances  !  The  very  sun  of  peace  and  joy  seemed  breaking 
from  the  countenance  of  Isaac.  He  caressed  first  one  and 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  397 

then  another,  nor  did  he  know  how  to  leave  off  kissing  and 
praising  them. 

When  we  had  thus  sat  and  made  ourselves  known  all 
around  to  each  other,  Julia  said  to  Isaac  that  she  should 
hope  often  to  see  him  and  them  in  the  same  way ;  but  how 
ever  often  it  might  be,  and  at  whatever  other  times,  she 
begged  that  annually,  on  the  ides  of  January,  she  with  Piso 
might  be  admitted  to  his  house  and  board,  to  keep  with 
them  all  a  feast  of  grateful  recollection.  "  Whatever  it  is 
that  makes  the  present  hour  so  happy  to  us  all,  we  owe, 
Isaac,  to  you. " 

"  Lady !  to  the  providence  of  the  God  of  Abraham !  " 

"  In  you,  Isaac,  I  behold  his  providence.  " 

"  Lady,  it  shall  be  as  you  say ;  on  the  ides  of  January 
will  we,  as  the  years  go  round,  call  up  to  our  minds  these 
dark  and  bloody  times,  and  give  thanks  for  the  great  re 
demption.  Were  Probus  but  with  you,  and  to  be  with 
you,  Piso,  your  cup  were  full.  And  he  had  been  here  but 
for  the  voice  of  one  who,  just  as  the  third  lion  had  been 
uncaged,  fixed  again  the  wavering  mind  of  Aurelian,  who 
then,  madman-like,  set  on  him  that  forest  full  of  beasts. 
At  that  moment  I  found  it,  Piso,  discreetest  to  depart.  " 

"  And  was  your  hand  in  that  too,  Isaac  ?  Were  those 
lions  of  your  training,  and  that  knave's  lies  of  your 
telling  ?  " 

"  Verily  thou  mayest  say  so.  " 

"  But  was  that  the  part  of  a  Jew  ?  " 

"  No, "  said  Julia,  "  it  was  only  the  part  of  the  Jew.  " 

"  Probus, "  said  Isaac,  "  was  the  friend  of  Piso  and  Julia, 
and  therefore  he  was  mine.  If  now  you  ask  how  I  love 
you  so,  I  can  only  say  I  do  not  know.  We  are  riddles  to 
ourselves.  When  I  first  saw  thee,  Piso,  I  fancied  thee, 
and  the  fancy  hath  held  till  now.  Now,  where  love  is, 
there  is  power,  —  high  as  heaven,  deep  as  hell.  Where 
there  is  the  will,  the  arm  is  strong  and  the  wits  clear. 
Mountains  of  difficulty  and  seas  of  danger  sink  into  mole 
hills  and  shallow  pools.  Besides,  Piso,  there  is  no  virtue 
in  Rome  but  gold  will  buy  it;  and,  as  thou  knowest,  in 


398  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

that  I  am  not  wanting.  Any  slave  like  Curio,  or  him  of 
the  Flavian,  may  be  had  for  a  basketful  of  oboli.  With 
these  two  clues,  thou  canst  thread  the  labyrinth.'" 

Though  our  affairs,  Fausta,  now  put  on  so  smiling  a  face, 
we  do  not  relinquish  the  thought  of  visiting  you;  and  with 
the  earliest  relenting  of  the  winter,  so  that  a  Mediter 
ranean  voyage  will  be  both  safe  and  pleasant,  shall  we  turn 
our  steps  toward  Palmyra. 

Demetrius  greatly  misses  his  brother.  But  what  he  has 
lost,  you  have  gained. 

What  at  this  moment  is  the  great  wonder  in  Home  is 
this :  a  letter  has  come  from  the  legions  in  Thrace,  in 
terms  most  dutiful  and  respectful  toward  the  senate,  de 
ploring  the  death  of  Aurelian,  and  desiring  that  they  will 
place  him  in  the  number  of  the  gods,  and  appoint  his  suc 
cessor.  This  is  all  that  was  wanted  to  confirm  us  in  our 
peace.  Now  we  may  indeed  hail  Tacitus  as  Augustus  and 
emperor.  Farewell. 

Piso  has  mentioned  with  brevity  the  death  of  Aurelian, 
and  the  manner  of  it,  as  first  received  at  Eome.  I  will 
here  add  to  it  the  account  which  soon  became  current 
in  the  capital,  and  which  to  this  time  remains  without 
contradiction. 

Already  has  the  name  of  Menestheus  occurred  in  these 
memoirs.  He  was  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  emperor, 
always  near  him,  and  much  in  his  confidence.  This  seemed 
strange  to  those  who  knew  both ;  for  Menestheus  did  not 
possess  those  qualities  which  Aurelian  esteemed.  He  was 
selfish,  covetous,  and  fawning ;  his  spirit  and  manner  those 
of  a  slave  to  such  as  were  above  him,  those  of  a  tyrant  to 
such  as  were  below  him.  His  affection  for  the  emperor,  of 
which  he  made  great  display,  was  only  for  what  it  would 
bring  him ;  and  his  fidelity  to  his  duties,  which  was  ex 
emplary,  grew  out  of  no  principle  of  integrity,  but  was 
merely  a  part  of  that  self-seeking  policy  that  was  the  rule 
of  his  life.  His  office  put  him  in  the  way  to  amass  riches, 
and  for  that  reason  there  was  not  one,  perhaps,  of  all  the 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  399 

servants  of  the  emperor,  who  performed  with  more  exact 
ness  the  affairs  entrusted  to  him.  He  had  many  times  in 
curred  the  displeasure  of  Aurelian,  and  his  just  rebuke, 
for  acts  of  rapacity  and  extortion,  by  which  never  the  em 
pire,  but  his  own  fortune  was  profited ;  but  so  deep  and 
raging  was  his  thirst  of  gold,  that  it  had  no  other  effect  than 
to  restrain  for  a  season  a  passion  which  was  destined,  in  its 
further  indulgence,  to  destroy  both  master  and  servant. 

Aurelian  had  scarcely  arrived  at  the  camp  without  the 
walls  of  Byzantium,  and  was  engaged  in  the  final  arrange 
ments  of  the  army  previous  to  the  departure  for  Syria,  — 
oppressed  and  often  irritated  by  the  variety  and  weight  of 
the  duties  which  claimed  his  care,  —  when,  about  the  hour 
of  noon,  as  he  was  sitting  in  his  tent,  he  was  informed  that 
one  from  Kome,  with  pressing  business,  craved  to  be  heard 
of  the  emperor. 

He  was  ordered  to  approach. 

"  And  why,  "  said  Aurelian,  as  the  stranger  entered,  "  have 
you  sped  in  such  haste  from  Eome  to  seek  me  ?  " 

"  Great  Caesar,  I  have  come  for  justice !  " 

"  Is  not  justice  well  administered  in  the  courts  of  Rome, 
that  thou  must  pursue  me  here,  even  to  the  gates  of 
Byzantium  ?  " 

"  None  can  complain, "  replied  the  Roman,  "  that  justice 
hath  been  withheld  from  the  humblest  since  the  reign  of 
Aurelian. " 

"  How  then, "  interrupted  Aurelian,  "  how  is  it  that  thou 
comest  hither  ?  Quick  !  let  us  know  thy  matter.  " 

"  To  have  held  back, "  the  man  replied,  "  till  the  return 
of  the  army  from  its  present  expedition,  and  the  law  could 
be  enforced,  were  to  me  more  than  ruin.  " 

"  What,  knave,  has  the  army  to  do  with  thee,  or  thou 
with  it  ?  Thy  matter,  quick,  I  say.  " 

"  Great  Caesar, "  rejoined  the  other,  "  I  am  the  builder  of 
this  tent.  And  from  my  workshops  came  all  these  various 
furnishings,  of  the  true  and  full  value  of  all  of  which  I 
have  been  defrauded.  " 

*  By  whom  ?  " 


400  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

"  By  one  near  the  emperor,  —  Menestheus  the  noble 
secretary. " 

"  Menestheus !  Make  out  the  case,  and  by  the  great  god 
of  light,  he  shall  answer  it !  Be  it  but  a  farthing  he  hath 
wronged  thee  of,  and  he  shall  answer  it!  Menestheus!" 

"  Yes,  great  emperor,  Menestheus.  It  was  thus  :  When 
the  work  he  spoke  for  was  done  and  fairly  delivered  to  his 
hands,  agreeing  to  the  value  of  an  obolus  and  the  measure 
of  a  hair  with  the  strict  commands  he  gave,  what  does  he, 
when  he  sees  it,  but  fall  into  a  rage  and  swear  that  't  is 
not  so,  — that  the  stuff  is  poor,  the  fashion  mean  and  beg 
garly,  the  art  slight  and  imperfect,  and  that  the  half  of 
what  I  charged,  which  was  five  hundred  aurelians,  was  all 
that  I  should  have  ;  with  which,  if  I  were  not  content,  and 
lisped  but  a  syllable  of  blame,  a  dungeon  for  my  home  were 
the  least  I  might  expect ;  and  if  my  knavery  reached  the 
ear  of  Aurelian,  from  which,  if  I  hearkened  to  him,  it 
should  be  his  care  to  keep  it,  my  life  were  of  less  value 
than  a  fly's.  Knowing  well  the  power  of  the  man,  I  took 
the  sum  he  proffered,  hoping  to  make  such  composition 
with  my  creditors  that  I  might  still  pursue  my  trade ;  for, 
0  emperor,  this  was  my  first  work,  and  being  young  and 
just  venturing  forth,  I  was  dependent  upon  others.  But 
with  half  the  price  I  charged  and  is  my  due,  I  cannot  re 
imburse  them.  My  name  is  gone,  and  I  am  ruined.  " 

"  The  half  of  five  hundred,  say  you  ?  was  that  the  sum 
and  all  the  sum  he  paid  you  ?  " 

"  It  was.  And  there  are  here  with  me  those  that  will 
attest  it." 

"  It  needs  not ;  for  I  myself  know  that  from  the  treasury 
five  hundred  aurelians  were  drawn,  and  said  by  him  to 
have  been  duly  paid  for  this  work,  which  well  suits  me. 
Let  but  this  be  proved,  and  his  life  is  the  least  that  it  shall 
cost  him.  But  it  must  be  well  proved.  Let  us  now  have 
thy  witnesses. " 

Menestheus  at  this  point,  ignorant  of  the  charge  then 
making  against  him,  entered  the  tent.  Appalled  by  the 
apparition  of  the  injured  man,  and  grasping  at  a  glance  the 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  401 

truth,  all  power  of  concealment  was  gone ;  conscious  guilt 
was  written  in  the  colour  and  in  every  line  and  feature  of 
the  face. 

"  Menestheus,  "  said  Aurelian,  "  knowest  thou  this  man  ?  " 

"  He  is  Yirro,  an  artisan  of  Kome, "  replied  the  trembling 
slave. 

"  And  what,  think  you,  brings  him  here  ?  " 

The  secretary  was  silent. 

"  He  has  come,  Menestheus,  well  stored  with  proofs,  be 
sides  those  which  I  can  furnish,  of  thy  guilt.  Shall  the 
witnesses  be  heard  ?  Here  they  stand.  " 

Menestheus  replied  not.  The  very  faculty  of  speech  had 
left  the  miserable  man. 

"  How  is  it, "  then  said  Aurelian,  in  his  fiercest  tones, 
"  how  is  it  that  again  for  these  paltry  gains  —  already  rol 
ling  in  wealth  —  thou  wilt  defile  thy  own  soul,  and  bring 
public  shame  upon  me,  too,  and  Borne  ?  Away  to  thy 
tent !  and  put  in  order  thine  own  affairs  and  mine.  Thou 
hast  lived  too  long.  Soldiers,  let  him  be  strongly  guarded. 
Let  Virro  now  receive  his  just  dues.  Men  call  me  cruel, 
—  and  well,  I  fear,  they  may, — but  unjust,  rapacious, 
never,  as  I  believe.  Whom  have  I  wronged,  whom  op 
pressed  ?  The  poor  of  Eome,  at  least,  cannot  complain  of 
Aurelian.  Is  it  not  so,  sirrah  ?  " 

"  Eome, "  he  replied,  "  rejoices  in  the  reign  of  Aurelian. 
His  love  of  justice  and  of  the  gods  give  him  a  place  in 
every  heart. " 

Whether  Aurelian  would  have  carried  into  execution  the 
threat  which  in  a  moment  of  passion  he  had  passionately 
uttered,  none  can  tell.  All  that  can  be  said  is  this,  that  he 
rarely  threatened  but  he  kept  his  word.  This  the  secretary 
knew,  and  knew,  therefore,  that  another  day  he  might 
never  see.  His  cunning  and  his  wit  now  stood  him  in 
good  stead.  A  doomed  man,  he  was  a  desperate  man ;  and 
no  act  then  seemed  to  him  a  crime  by  which  his  doom 
might  be  averted.  Retiring  to  his  tent,  to  fulfil  the  com 
mands  of  the  emperor,  he  was  there  left  alone,  the  tent 
being  guarded  without ;  and  then,  as  his  brain  laboured  in 

26 


402  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

the  invention  of  some  device  by  which  he  might  yet  es 
cape  the  impending  death,  and  save  a  life  which,  his  good 
name  being  utterly  blasted  and  gone,  could  have  been  but 
a  prolonged  shame,  he  conceived  and  hatched  a  plan,  in 
its  ingenuity,  its  wickedness,  and  atrocious  baseness,  of  a 
piece  with  his  whole  character  and  life.  In  the  hand 
writing  of  the  emperor,  which  he  could  perfectly  imitate, 
he  drew  up  a  list  of  some  of  the  chief  officers  of  the  army, 
—  by  him  condemned  to  death  on  the  following  day.  This 
paper,  as  he  was,  at  about  the  eleventh  hour,  led  guarded 
to  his  place  of  imprisonment,  he  dropped  at  the  tent  door 
of  one  whose  name  was  on  it. 

It  fell  into  the  intended  hands ;  and  soon  as  the  friendly 
night  had  come,  the  bloody  scroll  was  borne  from  tent  to 
tent,  stirring  up  to  vengeance  the  designated  victims.  No 
suspicion  of  fraud  ever  crossed  their  minds ;  but  amazed  at 
a  thirst  of  blood  so  insatiable,  and  which,  without  cause 
assigned,  could  deliver  over  to  the  axe  his  best  and  most 
trusted  friends, —  Carus,  Probus,  Mucapor, —  they  doubted 
whether  in  truth  his  reason  were  not  gone,  and  deemed  it 
no  crime,  but  their  highest  duty  to  save  themselves  by 
the  sacrifice  of  one  who  was  no  longer  to  be  held  a  man. 

After  the  noon  of  this  day  the  army  had  made  a  short 
but  quick  march  to  Heraclea.  Aurelian  —  the  tents  being 
pitched,  the  watch  set,  the  soldiers,  weary  with  their 
march,  asleep,  himself  tired  with  the  day's  duty  —  sat  with 
folded  arms,  having  just  ungirded  and  thrown  from  him 
his  sword.  His  last  attendant  was  then  dismissed,  who, 
passing  from  the  tent  door,  encountered  the  conspirators  as 
they  rushed  in,  and  was  by  them  hewn  to  the  ground.  Au 
relian,  at  that  sound,  sprang  to  his  feet.  But  alone,  with 
the  swords  of  twenty  of  his  bravest  generals  at  his  breast, 
what  could  he  do  ?  One  fell  at  the  first  sweep  of  his 
arm ;  but  ere  he  could  recover  himself  the  twenty  seemed 
to  have  sheathed  their  weapons  in  his  body.  Still  he 
fought,  but  not  a  word  did  he  utter,  till  the  dagger  of  Mu 
capor,  raised  aloft,  was  plunged  into  his  breast,  with  the 
words,  — 


FROM  PISO  TO  FAUSTA.  403 

"  This  Aurelia  sends !  " 

"  Mucapor ! "  he  then  exclaimed,  as  he  sank  to  the 
ground,  "  canst  thou  stab  Aurelian  ?  "  Then  turning  toward 
the  others,  who  stood  looking  upon  their  work,  he  said, 
"  Why,  soldiers  and  friends,  is  this  ?  Hold,  Mucapor, 
leave  in  thy  sword,  lest  life  go  too  quick ;  I  would  speak  a 
word ; "  and  he  seized  the  wrist  of  Mucapor,  and  held  it 
even  then  with  an  iron  grasp.  He  then  added,  "  Eomans ! 
you  have  heen  deceived !  You  are  all  my  friends,  and  have 
ever  been,  —  never  more  than  now.  "  His  voice  fell. 

Probus  then,  reaching  forward,  cried  out,  unfolding  at 
the  same  moment  the  bloody  list,  — 

"  See  here,  tyrant,  are  these  thy  friends  ?  " 

The  eyes  of  Aurelian,  waking  up  at  those  words  with  all 
the  intentness  of  life,  sought  the  fatal  scroll,  and  sharply 
scanned  it;  then  closing  again,  he  at  the  same  moment 
drew  out  the  sword  of  Mucapor,  saying,  as  he  did  so, — 

"  'Tis  the  hand  of  Menestheus,  not  mine.  You  have 
been  deceived !  "  With  that  he  fell  backwards  and 
expired. 

Those  miserable  men  then  looking  upon  one  another, 
the  truth  flashed  upon  them ;  and  they  knew  that,  to  save 
the  life  of  that  mean  and  abject  spirit,  they  there  stood 
together  murderers  of  the  benefactor  of  many  of  them,  the 
friend  of  all,  — of  a  general  and  emperor  whom,  with  all 
his  faults,  Rome  would  mourn  as  one  who  had  crowned 
with  a  new  glory  her  seven  hills.  How  did  they  then 
accuse  themselves  for  their  unreasonable  haste,  their 
blind  credulity !  How  did  they  bewail  the  cruel  blows 
which  had  thus  deprived  them  of  one  whom  they  greatly 
feared  indeed,  but  whom  also  they  greatly  loved,  —  above 
all,  one  whom,  as  their  master  in  that  art  which  in  every 
age  has  claimed  the  admiration  of  the  world,  they  looked 
up  to  as  a  very  god !  Some  reproached  themselves  ;  some, 
others ;  some  threw  themselves  upon  the  body  of  Aurelian, 
in  the  wildness  of  their  remorse  and  grief ;  and  all  swore 
vengeance  upon  the  miscreant  who  had  betrayed  them. 

Thus  perished  the  great  Aurelian;   for  great  he  truly 


404  LETTERS  FROM  ROME. 

was,  as  the  world  has  ever  estimated  greatness.  When  the 
news  of  his  assassination  reached  Borne,  the  first  sensation 
was  that  of  escape,  relief,  deliverance;  with  the  Chris 
tians,  and  all  who  favoured  them,  though  not  of  their  faith, 
it  was  uridissembled  joy.  The  streets  presented  the  ap 
pearances  which  accompany  an  occasion  of  general  rejoic 
ing.  Life  seemed  all  at  once  more  secure.  Another  bloody 
tyrant  was  dead,  by  the  violence  which  he  had  meted  out  to 
so  many  others,  and  they  were  glad.  But  with  another 
part  of  the  Eoman  people  it  was  far  otherwise.  They  la 
mented  him  as  the  greatest  soldier  Eome  had  known  since 
Caesar ;  as  the  restorer  of  the  empire ;  as  the  stern  but  needful 
reformer  of  a  corrupt  and  degenerate  age  ;  as  one  who  to  the 
army  had  been  more  than  another  Vespasian ;  who,  as  a 
prince,  if  sometimes  severe,  was  always  just,  generous,  and 
magnanimous.  These  were  they  who,  caring  more  for  the 
dead  than  for  the  living,  will  remember  concerning  them 
only  that  which  is  good.  They  recounted  his  virtues  and 
his  claims  to  admiration,  which  were  unquestionable  and 
great,  and  forgot,  as  if  they  had  never  been,  his  deeds  of 
cruelty,  and  the  wide  and  wanton  slaughter  of  thousands 
and  hundreds  of  thousands  which  will  ever  stamp  him  as 
one  destitute  of  humanity,  and  whose  almost  only  title  to 
the  name  of  man  was  that  he  was  in  the  shape  of  one. 
For  how  can  the  possession  of  a  few  of  those  captivating 
qualities  which  so  commonly  accompany  the  possession  of 
great  power  atone  for  the  rivers  of  blood  which  flowed 
wherever  he  wound  his  way  ? 

I  have  now  ended  what  I  proposed  to  myself.  I  have 
arranged  and  connected  some  of  the  letters  of  Lucius  Man- 
lius  Piso,  having  selected  chiefly  those  which  related  to 
the  affairs  of  the  Christians  and  their  sufferings  during  the 
last  days  of  Aurelian's  reign.  Those  days  were  happily 
few.  And  when  they  were  past  I  deemed  that  never 
again,  so  fast  did  the  world  appear  to  grow  wiser  and  bet 
ter,  could  the  same  horrors  be  repeated.  But  it  was  not 
so ;  and  under  Diocletian  I  beheld  that  work  in  a  manner 
perfected  which  Aurelian  did  but  begin.  I  have  outlived 


FROM  PISO   TO   FAUSTA.  405 

the  horrors  of  those  times,  and  at  length,  under  the  power 
ful  protection  of  the  great  Constantirie,  behold  this  much- 
persecuted  faith  secure.  In  this  I  sincerely  rejoice ;  for  it 
is  to  Christianity  alone,  of  all  the  religions  of  the  world, 
may  be  safely  entrusted  the  destinies  of  mankind. 


THE   END. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


ocr 


brTD    DEC  15  1981 


otfUpiM 

«*~4    *i^*"|*p*»fc 

1 0  1994 


d  08*94 


'JAN  0  3  2001 


SENT  ON  ILL 

MAY  t  2  1995 

U-C.  BERKELEY 
RECEIVED 

JUN  1  5  1995 

CIRCULATION  DEPT. 

SOm-1,'15 


^ 


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